Traitor's Crown
by Scholars at Large
Summary: Shisui watches as his clan and the village fall ever closer toward open violence and realizes, he has the power to take control.
1. Chapter 1

**Note:** This is something I came up with a little while ago. It will take the form of several mostly chronological vignettes from various characters' points of view. I post on AO3 first under the name Hei.

 **Summary:** Shisui watches as his clan and the village fall ever closer toward open violence and realizes, he has the power to take control.

Shisui isn't sure how he feels when he finally manages to corner Itachi and forces him to talk. He's not really surprised to find out they're actually going to attempt the coup. Fugaku is a belligerent fool who has never been able to forgive or forget, and he listens too closely to the angry mutterings of elders far too interested with personal power and glory. Shisui can't summon the stark dread Itachi radiates either. Even as he sits next to Itachi and hears the fear lacing his voice, Shisui can only see the innumerable possibilities a coup represents.

It's times like these that Shisui wonders if he is evil. His mind is too quick to spin through different eventualities, analyzing each potential outcome. Even while he sits and offers empty assurances for the future, his mind sees ways to bring about the end in a wash of flame. It is times like these where Shisui _scares_ himself.

If he were Hatake, he would probably have taken Itachi with him and immediately reported the coup to the Hokage. But he's not. He is broken in more dangerous and less predictable ways. A small voice that sounds disturbingly like Itachi's own begs him to do his duty, even if he waits until after Itachi himself has fallen asleep. The Hokage must be told. But he can't bring himself listen to it, not now. His mind is buried in consequences and probabilities.

As the moon begins to set, Itachi's breathing evens out, and he relaxes against Shisui's arm. His warm weight anchors Shisui and serves as a constant reminder of who will pay most dearly should Shisui act rashly. And, for all that Shisui knows Itachi is too idealistic and trusting, he cannot bring himself to take advantage of that fact. Itachi is his only real friend and his conscience. He would do much to protect him.

Life goes on, and Fugaku and the Hokage spend increasing amounts of time together. It's funny how well threats of violence facilitate negotiations. Shisui is unsurprised to note an increased ANBU presence watching the district, and though he is never assigned that particular duty, he knows Itachi is. But even while his companions burn under the indignity of the village's watch, Shisui is too busy weighing his options to pay them mind.

Itachi does not handle the stress nearly so gracefully as Shisui. As tensions mount, he retreats inward until some days he doesn't respond to even Shisui's prompting. He doesn't eat unless pressed and spends most nights on the rooftops, crying silently from the weight of expectations. Some nights Shisui comforts him, but too many he finds himself pushed away.

While always skinny, Itachi becomes gaunt. He is killing himself and no one says a thing. Shisui offers what support he can, but even he is not enough anymore.

Itachi's thirteenth birthday draws near, and Shisui is ordered to spy on him. Not that Shisui wasn't already following Itachi, constantly reminding him to eat and periodically forcing him to sleep. Despite it all, Itachi still goes on assignments, still interacts with his family and manages to fool almost everyone into believing he is coping well, that he is just tired from endless missions and reports. How they ignore the lost weight and haggard despair, Shisui doesn't know. Even with Shisui's intervention, Itachi isn't eating more than one meal out of every three and he's sleeping even less.

It isn't until Hatake Kakashi asks to talk to him alone, that Shisui realizes that someone else cares. Hatake casually remarks on Itachi's recent promotion to captain, nominated by Danzo himself. While Shisui had heard about the captaincy, he hadn't known the details. Even in ANBU there are secrets. Hatake also mentions that Danzo has taken particular interest in Itachi, that there are rumors Danzo is working with Itachi on a failsafe, should tensions with the Uchiha increase. Shisui is both thankful for the information and stunned. _How had things escalated so far?_ Hatake is gone before Shisui can begin formulate a response.

After that everything begins to fall apart, crumbling like a castle of sand. Shisui sits on the rooftops at night, listening to Itachi's ragged breathing and thinking about the future. Mostly they sit in silence, though sometimes Itachi will speak. One night, he looks over at Shisui and asks what it means to be _good_ , if he believes it is possible to do evil in the name of good and still be good. Shisui has no answer.

Shisui knows without asking what Danzo's plan is. For no matter what else they might be, the hidden villages are military establishments. That Danzo would be so cruel as to order Itachi to wield the blade is also no surprise. Shisui only escaped his grasp through careful avoidance of politics and acts of borderline insubordination. If he had been clan heir, not even those would have kept him safe. He also knows that his eyes have the power to stop the coup, nonviolently, before it can happen. He has known he could since Itachi first told him what Fugaku was planning, and he has kept silent as his best friend began to shatter.

Shisui knows he is not a good person. His success as a ninja is proof enough of that. He is a selfish but pragmatic person. And he knows he must act before Danzo. With Kotoamatsukami, it would be easy to force Fugaku and the rest of the clan to abandon their plans for a coup. Not even the sharingan can combat his genjutsu. The problem is, of course, that that would only treat a symptom. Many of the clan's complaints have merit. Change needs to happen on both sides, and Shisui knows people well enough to recognize that once the Uchiha are no longer a threat, the village will stop negotiating. That's why this is not his first plan. This is not the one he thinks will work. This is, however, the more honest plan.

Shisui's first plan was to use his genjutsu on the Hokage and council. If he were to become Hokage, it would not be difficult to soothe the Uchiha and the village. He knows what needs to be done, and he knows how to do it. He isn't sure though, if he should. Of all the people Shisui knows, he is probably one of the worst candidates for Hokage. He is too selfish, he enjoys power and manipulation too much. He is _not_ a good person. If Itachi were older the decision would be simple. Shisui knows he can trust Itachi with his and the villages wellbeing. He knows that Itachi would eagerly suffer a fate worse than death to protect his village. But Itachi, even if he is an ANBU captain, is still a child and still too young. So Shisui remains indecisive and hesitant to act. If he takes the hat this way, he will have betrayed his village and his clan, but if he does not, he risks a civil war.

As he prepares for a mission, a routine assassination, Shisui thinks on Itachi's question from so many nights before. _Is it possible to do evil in the name of good and still be good?_ He didn't have an answer for Itachi then and he doesn't have one now. But, he supposes, it doesn't really matter, because no matter how many good or evil deeds he does, Shisui knows he has never been truly good. And as he thinks on that fact, he realizes his mind has already been made up. He has known for months what he is going to do.

It is almost too late when Shisui decides to act. He finds Itachi by his locker in the ANBU headquarters, already in uniform, staring despondently at his blade. "Do you trust me?" He asks Itachi, his voice calm, betraying no inkling of his tension. He does not need Itachi for this, in fact it would be kinder to leave Itachi out, but Shisui wants someone to support _him_ , someone to know the truth. Itachi nods once without looking up from the sword. "Would you follow me without question?" Itachi nods again, only now turning to look at Shisui's face. His eyes stare into Shisui's lifelessly, and Shisui wishes he had acted sooner. Faking a grin, Shisui nods, "Good, then I have a plan to peacefully put an end to this coup business once and for all."

Itachi stares at him, hope flickering dimly in his eyes. For the first time in months, there is something approaching life in him. As curious as he is, he is true to his word and asks no questions, merely following Shisui a step behind as they make their way to the Hokage tower. Shisui wants to tell Itachi the plan, but fears he will lose his nerve if he stops. Instead, he tells Itachi to trust him and instructs him to act as a bodyguard. He tells him that if all goes to plan, no one will die. He does not say that he is dragging Itachi into another coup. One that utilizes stealth, betrayal and surgical precision instead of armies and force. He rather doubts Itachi would approve.

They scale the tower and use ANBU codes to easily clear security check points. With Itachi behind him, he is beyond reproach, none dare question what brings them to the tower with such urgency. They barge into the Hokage's office and Shisui wants to smile. The council is already present, and while Danzo isn't here, he is not typically involved in the selection of the next Hokage.

There is movement behind them as the Hokage Guard step forward. Not even Itachi's presence is enough to calm them. Acting as the bodyguard he was ordered to be, Itachi shifts into a more aggressive stance. Itachi really is, Shisui notes, very good at following orders. When all of them turn their focus to Itachi, he knows he has won. He can feel the tendrils of control latching onto their minds. The genjutsu is most vulnerable when it is first cast, but once it has merged, it is very difficult to dislodge. Shisui has not had many chances to use his mangekyou, but he wields it with intuitive mastery, planting memories of meetings that never took place and suggestions of ideas that were never had. Shisui can feel Itachi stiffen as he recognizes the technique, but he trusts Shisui enough to remain silent.

Shisui suddenly drops to one knee and Itachi follows. "Hokage-sama," he says, head bowed, "you wished to see me?" The Hokage blinks and looks first at his advisors, then at Shisui. Already his guards have melted back into the shadows, having forgotten why they ever left.

"Shisui-kun," he smiles kindly and if Shisui were a better person, he might have felt more guilt than relief for what he has done. "How would you like to become Hokage?" The Third continues, not pausing for an answer, "I've been getting tired since before Minato-kun took over and recently thought about stepping down again. After talking things over with my advisors, we think you would make an excellent candidate. And now, with tensions between your family and the village how they are, I thought it might make a nice gesture of goodwill to pass along the hat. I'll still be around to offer advice, but you'll be the one running the village. Besides Kakashi-kun, you're probably the most qualified ninja we have, and with your youth, I think you'll do an excellent job reinvigorating the village."

Shisui bows his head low enough to obscure his face. It worked. _It actually worked._ Keeping his tone as emotionless as he can, he replies, "I would be honored."

The Hokage grins and says he will take care of notifying the proper people. The appointment won't take effect until next month, but until then, Sarutobi-san wants him in the office every day, learning everything he can teach.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary** : Hiruzen reflects on his choice in successor

 **Notes** : Here's chapter 2. I'll be posting a chapter every few days until I'm caught up with AO3.

Hiruzen stands on the balcony of the Hokage tower, looking down at all the assembled citizens of Konoha. Ninja and civilian alike, they all crowd together to see the passing of the torch to the next generation. Shisui-kun stands proudly to his left, head lifted and wearing the whole traditional outfit. The robe is too short for him and looks strange on an Uchiha, but Shisui-kun's confidence and charisma are more than able to compensate. Even still, Hiruzen knows his mentor and friend, Tobirama, would be rolling in his grave if he knew Hiruzen had passed the position onto an Uchiha. Somehow, he can't find it in himself to care. He, Tobirama and all of the older ninja have had their chance. It's time for the next generation to take over and fix the mistakes of their predecessors.

Traditionally, the new Hokage is introduced with his family behind him as a sign of solidarity. Since Shisui-kun is an orphan and an only child, Uchiha Fugaku takes that place of honor. He and his eldest son, Uchiha Itachi, flank Shisui, almost possessively. Hiruzen notes with some amusement that, despite that, Shisui-kun has done all he can to distance himself from Uchiha Fugaku at least. When the man reaches out to grab his shoulder, Shisui steps forward and leans over the railing to wave at the crowd, waiting for them to quiet down enough for him to speak.

Shisui has practiced his speech many times in front of Hiruzen, so he is perhaps not as interested as the rest to hear what the new Hokage will have to say. Still, he stands respectfully behind Shisui, smiling at the village and listening to the ebb and flow of the new Hokage's words. He thinks of the past month and all the ways both Shisui and he have changed in such a brief span of time. It passed both too slowly and far too fast.

Hiruzen Sarutobi is very old. He was too old to govern when he handed the reigns over to young Minato and he's far too old now, nearly a decade later. The fact that all of this is happening because the Uchiha forced his hand never bothered him. He had been planning for years to retire for good. He was just waiting for those most worthy of the hat to grow up a bit. Since Minato died, Hiruzen has seen himself as more of a placeholder than Hokage. With Shisui about to take the hat, he's happier than he's been in years. Shisui hasn't even officially taken office yet and Hiruzen already feels like a younger man.

Before this year, Hiruzen had not paid particular attention to the boy. He had known Shisui was one of the ten or so most talented ninja in the village and had heard many of his peers praise his dedication and skill, but he wouldn't have said he'd known him. Not like he had known Minato-kun. Not how he knew Kakashi-kun, Naruto-kun or even Gai-kun.

But for all that, he knows Shisui will make a great leader. From the moment he set eyes on him, Hiruzen has known that Shisui-kun will become the best Hokage Konoha has ever seen. He has the intelligence, the compassion and the charisma to be great, all he needs is the opportunity to use it.

The boy takes to the duties like a fish to water, reading, memorizing, understanding almost before the words are even out of Hiruzen's mouth. Shisui-kun is the only student he has ever had to rival Orochimaru in pure thirst for knowledge and ability to comprehend. But unlike Orochimaru, Shisui doesn't shut himself out from others. He has an openness and charm about him that is unusual in shinobi. Despite his years in ANBU, Shisui has never forgotten what it is to be human. And this, above all else, is why Hiruzen picked him.

Shisui spends each day at the tower both learning his new role and showing everyone who he really is. He flirts shamelessly with Midori-chan, brings in pastries or fruit for the analysts and lends a hand or ear wherever he's needed. Just taking care of some of the paperwork would have been enough to win Hiruzen's eternal gratitude, but Shisui does so much more. It takes less than a week before he's managed to win over nearly all the tower staff.

And, from the look of the crowd, it won't take much longer to win the village. The civilians stare up in awe at their new leader, eager to embrace the energy and change he represents. Even shinobi are taken in by his words of optimism and enthusiasm. Hiruzen can only hope that optimism lasts long enough for them to see what Shisui-kun can truly do.

As Shisui continues to talk, touching on plans for better integration of all the clans, more oversight in the academy and improving lines of communication, Hiruzen scans the crowd. He notes the presence of several members of Danzo's ROOT, though the man himself is not here. It saddens Hiruzen how distant he has grown from his trusted friend and ally. He can recall when life was simpler and they worked in perfect concert. Now he had trouble getting mission reports from the men and women under Danzo's command. Kakashi-kun is here though, watching the ceremony from the roof of a nearby building. While he has his book out, even from here Hiruzen can tell Shisui has his full attention.

Shisui seems larger than life, even to Sarutobi, as he drinks in the attention of the crowd. He is a born showman and clearly in his element. Shisui pauses in his speech as the cheers from the crowd grow too loud to talk over. After a moment though, he gestures for the crowd to calm down. And, much to Hiruzen's shock, they do. Shisui thanks them and tells them that they are what make Konoha great. It's not the buildings or the jutsu or the leaders; it's the common people, civilian and ninja alike, who choose everyday to help each other and to keep the will of fire alive in their hearts. As trite and cliché as the line is, it sounds sincere and Shisui has no trouble rallying the crowd behind him.

This time he allows them to grow silent on their own, waiting for a natural lull in the cheering. He hops onto the railing, using chakra to stay balanced and bows to the crowd. "I," he says, "am Shunshin no Shisui, and I am honored to be your new Hokage." Cheers erupt around him as he lightly jumps down to mingle with the crowd, and within moments he is almost out of sight, completely surrounded by his people. Hiruzen notes with amusement the tense postures of the ANBU guards posted all around the gathering. They will likely have a far more trying task with this new Hokage than they ever had with him.

Shisui-kun did admirably for his first day in office. The village loves him and after his display of friendship, it will take quite a lot to sway most of them. Only Uchiha Fugaku seems upset. He was one of the few who seems to have noticed Shisui's omission. Shisui did not introduce himself as Uchiha Shisui, loyal Uchiha branch member and puppet of the Uchiha clan. He used his monicker, Shisui of the Body Flicker. And with that one statement, he set the tone of all future dealings with his clan. Hiruzen can only hope Shisui knows what dangerous game he's playing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary:** Shisui feels guilt for what he's done and encounters his first real taste of politics.

 **Notes:** Here's chapter 3. I'll be posting a chapter every few days until I'm caught up with AO3.

Being Hokage is hard, though he knew it would be. Everyone wants a moment of his time, everyone has things that must certainly _and indeed could really only possibly_ be done by him. He finds himself holding babies, reading reports and even mediating disputes between genin. Everyone wants to see the new Hokage.

And, as the Hoka- as Sarutobi-san and his council have repeatedly told him, the order in which he sees each person _means_ something. He must meet with all the clan heads to find out what want to see in the new government, but those meetings cannot be combined, and they cannot be done by multiple people, and if he speaks to just one clan head out of turn, it could signify the end of the village as they know it. Or so he's been told.

The first person he speaks to, after his inauguration and despite the clamoring of the council, is Itachi. His cousin has been a constant shadow the past few weeks and, even when they are alone, has asked Shisui no questions. Shisui knows Itachi is unhappy with his choices, but he can't help but take strength from the fact that his cousin still stands beside him. Before he can be swamped by well-wishers and sycophants, Shisui retreats to his new office and banishes everyone, including his ANBU guard. Only once he is assured they are alone does he grabs Itachi's shoulders and thank him. Thank him for his trust and his support. Thank him for his loyalty and silence. Thank him for knowing the truth.

Itachi is hardly the only person to have helped and supported Shisui the last month while he transitioned into office, but he is the one Shisui most trusts. Sarutobi-san had been very helpful, always there with advice and encouragement. But something about knowing what he did to the man makes it hard for Shisui to be in the same room. His guilt grates on his nerves until the mere sight of the man, smiling and telling him what a wonderful Hokage he is and what a great start he's already made, makes him feel sick with horror.

Shisui knows that he is an awful person, not for who he has killed or the missions he has done, but for what he is willing to do to those he cares for. What sort of monster, of traitor, can look his leader in the eye and steal his autonomy? Can do it so thoroughly the man thanks him afterwards? But even worse, Shisui feels most guilt for knowing he would make the same choice again.

Itachi remains silent throughout Shisui's outburst, but it is a kind silence. He does not shift or remove Shisui's hand from his shoulder, merely waits for Shisui to finish. Shisui has never been more grateful for Itachi's presence in his life.

Once he is in control again he looks at his cousin carefully. He wants to give Itachi a chance to talk, to ask whatever questions he has or to tell Shisui to his face what a moron he's been about this whole thing, but there isn't time. Instead, he nods once asks for Itachi's allegiance again. It's redundant, as his Hokage Itachi is bound by law to do whatever Shisui asks. But he doesn't want the loyalty of a subject to his king, he wants the trust and loyalty of his friend. Itachi doesn't even hesitate before he drops to the ground and bows. "My life is yours."

Shisui feels conflicted. He's relieved, so unbearably relieved, that despite everything he has done and anything he might do, Itachi is on his side. But he isn't sure unquestioning fealty is what he wants from his cousin, his friend. Seeing Itachi bowing before him leaves a bad taste in his mouth, so he reacts as he always does, with a smile and joke. He orders Itachi up again and offers to get him dango or anmitsu for behaving so well at the inauguration. And Itachi relaxes enough to feign upset at Shisui's patronizing manner and points out that at thirteen, he's more than old enough to have graduated the academy and become, technically, and adult in the village. Though never once does he actually reject the offer. Shisui smiles as he leaves his office, bolstered enough to face whatever wolves and vultures await him outside. As difficult as betraying Konoha and claiming the position of Hokage is, at least it saved Itachi from executing the clan and damning himself. His cousin might not have had an enviable childhood, but at least he won't be a mass murderer before puberty.

His advisors greet him almost before he's out the door, wanting to know what was so important he couldn't finalize his appointments, couldn't sign off on treaties, couldn't take on his responsibilities as Hokage. Shisui grins and pretends to listen to their complaints. He wishes he could replace them. But, he's too new in his position and they are too respected. There is no acceptable reason he could give. After all, they have done nothing wrong. It's his fault really, he just has trouble dealing with them after what he did to them, to the Hoka- to Sarutobi-san. And who could he replace them with? Itachi is too young and too related. His genin teammates? He hasn't seen them in years. Shisui has few peers and fewer he would trust.

It turns out that the most pressing item on today's agenda is deciding who will get the honor of his presence first. Traditionally, that has always been the Senju and their closest supporters. But, if he follows tradition he is almost certain the Uchiha will complain. If he had not already insulted his clan, he could afford to keep them until last, they would feel secure in the knowledge that he was one of them and respected them. Realistically though, the Uchiha must be seen first if he wants any hope of further negotiation. But to show any preference for his clan could be dangerous. Already he knows there are those that fear he will be a puppet ruler for Uchiha Fugaku and any others upset with decades of Senju rule.

It winds up being Itachi who finds a solution to the problem when he asks why they should see any of the clan heads first. Why indeed? He already plans on breaking traditions, why not start with this one? Of his advisors, Homura is the more intrigued and brings up the very good question of if not clan heads, who? Shisui thinks. He could visit the academy, he's already got a number of things he wants to discuss, including stricter graduation requirements, but the current headmaster is affiliated closely with the Nara clan, and that could be construed as playing favorites. He could talk to the civilian leaders first. That would show his commitment to including them in government and improving communication between ninja and civilian officials. But choosing anything overtly political will anger people. He needs to find someone safe, someone that no one can malign without harming their own reputation. He decides to make a tour of the Konoha Children's Home as well as the apartments of all current wards of the state. As the current director of Youth Services is from a civilian background, there's nothing remotely political about it. It'll also give him a chance to check on Minato's son. While ANBU routinely guard the child, it's from a distance.

Within an hour he's ironed out all the details with Homura, Koharu occasionally adding her input. Once a runner is able to confirm Kado-san's, the Director of Youth Services's, eagerness to coordinate things on her end, it becomes official. The next three days will be dedicated to meeting Konoha's orphans.

Despite one issue resolved, there still remains determining the order of precedence for clan meetings. Much as Shisui wishes he could handle them alphabetically or by lottery, like with the children, he knows enough about politics to see how that would offend. So instead he tries to work the list to make mitigate harm rather than curry favor.

Ultimately the Uchiha are first, with their current ire, he can't afford to further insult them. Then come Hyuuga and the rest. It takes far too long to get the thing done, and by the time Koharu pronounces it good enough, the sun has long since set. He's already dismissed most of his staff for the night, so the tower is quieter than he ever remembers it being. With only Homura, Koharu, his guards and Itachi, it almost feels peaceful. As long as he ignores the guilt.

Since they all missed dinner and it's late, Shisui manages to convince even Koharu to eat at a serviceable place that tends to keep later hours. One of the perks of living in a ninja village is the sheer number of establishments willing to cater to the ninja lifestyle. The food is good enough, for the price, and it's open late. All nine of them, including the guards, troop in just before closing. They're taken to a quiet table in the back of the room and Shisui tries to relax. Tries to box his guilt up and shove it away. It doesn't matter, he tells himself, that these people like him for a lie. Who hasn't lied to their friends before? He tries to tell himself that they would have chosen him even without his genjutsu, or that after they've seen what he can do, that they might forgive him his crimes. And somehow, Shisui is able to enjoy dinner. While he is definitely not a good man, he thinks, he _is_ a good enough liar to fool even himself.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary** : Naruto meets the Hokage and realizes he's not that bad of a guy.

 **Notes** : Here's chapter 4. I'll be posting a chapter every few days until I'm caught up with AO3. Sorry about the long wait this time. Life got in the way.

Naruto looked down at his hands in shame. Today was supposed to be his day. His chance to finally, finally, beat Sasuke-teme in a practical exam. Even now he wasn't quite sure why it had happened. Why he had frozen. He had practiced his throws for hours. A few days ago he had even hit the bullseye twice in a row! He knew he could do it, he was awesome. And today was supposed to be the day that all his classmates were finally gonna see. Instead he'd embarrassed himself in front everyone, 'cause sometimes, life just sorta hated him.

It had all started two days ago, when Kado-baachan told him he had to clean up his place on account of there being another inspection this month. She said it was a pig sty and she didn't want him to embarrass her or himself. She'd told him he would have to throw out most of his favorite things too, 'cause, according to her, they were trash. Then she'd said he'd have to shower and wear the lame gray shirt and shorts they'd given him at the start of the year, when he got his apartment. If he even though about wandering around in "that orange disaster," she had threatened to confiscate it. After that, Naruto had really wanted to tell her that he'd like to see her try, but Kado-baachan was really scary when she was mad, and Naruto wasn't quite brave enough to cross her yet.

Naruto had tried his best to tidy his place up and even moved his dirty laundry into a pile in the corner of his room. But Kado-baachan must have known that he wasn't very good at cleaning, because the next day she'd sent by a group of goons to help him clean up. They had actually been a lot nicer than Naruto'd thought they'd be, way nicer than most people he met were. They'd even talked with him while they worked.

Apparently, they were new genin and helping him clean-up for inspection was their mission. Which definitely made it his mission too, since he was helping out. He had been so excited to tell Sakura-chan about the real ninja mission he'd been on. Not even Sasuke-teme had done that yet.

The only bad part had been the whole them cleaning up his stuff thing. They had boxed up his ramen cup tower and thrown out his bag of dead bugs that looked kinda like Sasuke. They would have tossed his glass shard collection too, if he hadn't managed to stop them in time. And, even though his apartment was really small, it had still taken a long time to clean. By the time they had finished, Naruto was too tired to practice more shuriken jutsu.

Still, it had been pretty fun talking to real ninja. They had been really impressed when he showed off his cool ninja moves. And then, after they were all done, they had given him a bunch of fresh fruit and milk and stuff, which was cool. Kado-baachan hadn't done that since the first month he was moved to his own apartment. Usually she just gave him money to buy his own food. The lead ninja, the jonin-sensei, had even offered to give him a rice cooker, which was really cool. Even if rice wasn't as great as ramen and he didn't think he'd ever make it, it was nice the guy had offered.

After they had left, Naruto had found himself staying up trying to figure out why this inspection was so important. He wasn't stupid, even if he didn't do great on all his academy assignments. He was just better at figuring out stuff that mattered. He knew for a fact that his place had already been inspected by Kado-baachan's assistant. He even had the list of all the crap she'd wanted him to fix to prove it. Not that he usually fixed any of that stuff. He'd never really understood why she cared whether he'd done laundry or dishes or taken out the trash. It was his home, not hers, and he didn't have to do chores if he didn't want to. And, if he waited long enough, one of the top secret ANBU people would take care of it for him. Once, when he'd put off taking out the trash until it was kinda hard to move around, he'd come back to his apartment just in time to see a masked figure slinking away with a trash bag over his shoulder. Naruto had found the sight so funny, he'd almost been tempted to try it again.

So yeah, Naruto knew it wasn't just another inspection. The question was, what could it be? Nobody cared about the orphans except Old Man Hokage and Kado-baachan. At first he'd thought maybe it was Iruka-sensei, but as nice as he was, Iruka-sensei didn't have any reason to visit. And even if he did, Naruto knew D-Rank missions weren't super cheap, so there was no way Kado-baachan would buy one for him. The only other thing Naruto could think of was some rich guy from the capital or somewhere was coming by. Sometimes they would visit the Children's Home and donate toys or whatever so they could feel better about being super rich and stuff. But he had moved out of the home at the beginning of last semester, so that didn't explain what they would want with him. Eventually, despite his curiosity, he managed to fall asleep.

The next day he went to the academy as usual. He tried to ask Koji-kun, one of the other kids in Youth Services' independent housing program if he knew anything, but Koji had just shrugged him off. After class, Kado-baachan had stopped by his apartment herself, just to make sure everything was put away and Naruto was wearing his lame uniform. She also let him know who his visitor would be, and had been pretty surprised when Naruto hadn't already known. It turned out all his guesses had been wrong. Go figure. While he'd been right about Kado-baachan trying to impress the guy, it turned out it wasn't just some noble or something, but the new Hokage. Naruto hadn't heard much about the guy, but he already hated him. The Old Man had never mentioned stepping down before and suddenly this pretender wasn't just the Old Man's choice in successor but actually the Hokage. Naruto knew there was something fishy about that. There was no way in hell he was playing nice with some con man who tricked the Old Man into retiring. Kado-baachan had told him he didn't have a choice about seeing the guy, but not even she could force Naruto to like it.

When the guy had come in, Naruto had given him his very best ninja glare. The pretend Hokage was super tall and hadn't bothered to wear the old man's hat or robe. Instead, he just had dark pants and a shirt and some kinda leather thing over one shoulder. It looked lame. He had left his guards outside, which was actually pretty smart of him, 'cause Naruto's flat wasn't that big. Not that he needed a lot of space. Instead the guy had come in with just a kid, probably not any older than the genin who'd helped him clean up.

The fake Hokage had smiled and Naruto could tell it was fake, or at least not a real, happy smile. No one except the Old Man, and sometimes Iruka-sensei, was ever really happy to see him. After a minute of staring at each other the pretender laughed. He actually closed his eyes and laughed. Naruto just sorta looked at him funny, because as far as he could tell, nothing worth laughing had happened. The guy's genin sidekick hadn't done anything. For a kid, he was pretty boring. He just stood a step to the side and behind the fake Hokage and watched. It was super creepy.

After The Pretender had gotten sick of laughing, he'd just introduced himself, as if he wasn't some sorta crazy lunatic that laughed at everything. Naruto didn't get what the old man had seen in him. Apparently he was some kinda ninja legend or whatever. He said people called him Shunshin no Shisui, 'cause he was so fast. Naruto told him that being good at running away made you a lame ninja, not a legend and he laughed again. He laughed at most of Naruto's jokes, and if Naruto hadn't already decided to be the guy's rival and prove to the old man that he deserved to be Hokage way more, he might even have liked him.

Eventually, he had finished asking Naruto about his life and what he liked to do and stuff. He had said something about it getting pretty late and then had apologized for making Naruto miss dinner. Naruto had been kinda overwhelmed because not even the Old Man had ever spent so long just talking to him, and the new Hokage hadn't seemed like he disliked Naruto even a little, not that the Old Man had either, but... It had been nice. Then, when Naruto had thought he'd just leave and do whatever important Hokage stuff he had to do, he had offered to take him out for ramen. Which of course Naruto had accepted. After all, even if he hadn't been starting to see what the Old Man must have, even if he hadn't liked the new guy, free ramen was free ramen.

Once they got to Ichiraku's (Naruto's favorite ramen place and apparently the Hokage's too), they had talked even more. The Hokage (Shisui-nii, he'd said to call him) was really smart. He had talked to Naruto about all the things wanted to fix in the village, and the way people treated Naruto was one of them. Naruto had told Shisui-nii that it wasn't that bad, but Shisui-nii had said that any amount of bad is too much bad, especially for kids. They had talked about a lot of other stuff too, and for once, Naruto feels special, feels important. He had also found out that the kid Shisui-nii had trailing around him is actually his little cousin, Itachi-chan. It didn't take Naruto long to learn that Itachi-chan preferred being called Itachi-san, something Shisui-nii had just laughed at. According to Shisui-nii, Itachi-san needed to learn how to lighten up and be a kid.

Shisui-nii had bought Naruto as much ramen as he could eat, and the three of them had stayed at Ichiraku's until it closed. Shisui-nii had even shooed away his advisors so he could talk to Naruto in peace. By the time they had gone back home, Naruto had been exhausted. Though, he remembers, as he had been falling asleep he'd had one thought on his mind. Even if he was still sad he wasn't going to be the Godaime, he was sure Shisui-nii would do a good job.

Which brings him back to today. Shisui-nii shows up outside the academy and stops to watch all the first year kids try to hit the target with shuriken. Half-asleep and not having practiced two days in a row, Naruto is excited to show Shisui-nii what he can do. Even tired, he still knows how to throw. He watches patiently as the other kids all try, some pretty bad, but some really good. Sasuke, the bastard, gets all bullseyes and Shisui-nii seems kinda impressed. But when it's finally his turn, he can't do it. Naruto knows what he needs to do, but he freezes. All he can see is Shisui-nii watching him. He does throw all his shuriken, but only two of them actually hit the target, and neither are in the bullseye. Naruto feels like crying from shame as he runs back to his place. He had wanted to impress everyone so much and he'd wound up making an even bigger fool of himself.

The only upside is after class, Shisui-nii meets him and asks if he wants to grab ramen for dinner. It's super early still, but Naruto agrees. Shisui-nii tells him it's okay to mess up sometimes, that's what practice is for. He tells him that when he first started, he messed up all the time. He says the key is just to keep practicing until you don't even have to think. Then, if someone like the Hokage shows up and surprises you, it doesn't matter. Your body still knows what to do. Naruto likes that advice. Because sometimes, it feels like his body is smarter than his head. His hands learn how to do things better than his brain can teach them from lectures, and the idea of training so much that his head can't mess everything up is really nice. One day, he knows, he's going to become a great ninja, and he's pretty sure Shisui-nii will be there to help him every step of the way.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes** : Here's chapter 5. Sorry about the wait, I apparently fail at having a decent work life balance. Hopefully everything will settle down in the next few weeks.

"He has betrayed us, taken all we have given him and thrown it in our faces the moment he no longer needed it." Fugaku cannot keep his voice calm and finds that he does not want to. Never has he been as humiliated as he was at that farce of an inauguration. He had thought- but no. Why would the Senju hand over the throne to an Uchiha? They had kept all power within their conniving grasp for decades. What reason would they have to share it with the other founding clan of Konoha? He isn't sure how he hadn't seen it before. Shisui has been acting strangely for months now. He wonders how long ago that Senju bastard sank his teeth into the boy, one of the greatest Uchiha of this generation. Fugaku wonders if Itachi is lost as well, and hopes his is not. He cannot bear the thought of losing his eldest to their grasp.

Mikoto sits beside him, a calming voice of reason, her arm draped over his shoulders. "You know he didn't mean it that way," she says, "Shisui-kun needs a chance to stand on his own and show the village the glory of the Uchiha. If he had truly betrayed us, would he have Itachi as his closest advisor?" And Fugaku sighs. While Mikoto raises a valid point, he is not so sure that it is Itachi controlling Shisui and not the other way around. Shisui has always been charismatic, and Fugaku fears that he may very well overwhelm Itachi, and through him the entire clan, by force of will alone.

He is at the police station when the missive arrives, trying not to lose his temper while mediating a dispute between officers who really should know better. With all the revelry after the appointment of a new Hokage, the police force has been stretched thin. Between drunken fights and noise complaints, very little actual police work has been accomplished. And, with ANBU added into the mix, tailing nearly every officer, tension within the force have been at an almost record high.

At first, he assumes the scroll is merely another request for reinforcement or support. Such things have been coming in almost nonstop all week. It's only when he notices the Hokage's Seal that he realizes who it must be from.

Fugaku dismisses the officers, giving both a warning since they don't currently have the personnel to suspend anyone. Neither of them are pleased, but they comply and Fugaku relishes the silence and peace for a few seconds before even looking at the scroll.

Shisui has been in office for less than three days, so he has little doubt as to what the message will say. Despite the rather painfully formal wording and stark lack of notice, he finds himself looking forward to the meeting. He has had some time to think and realizes his earlier accusations of betrayal were not well thought out. Shisui has always planned his moves many turns in advance and has a more intuitive grasp of politics than even Fugaku. Never before has he given anyone reason to doubt his loyalties and Fugaku agrees with Mikoto that Shisui should be given the benefit of the doubt. After all, even his own son Itachi has given him more reason to doubt him than Shisui has. And no matter what else he is, Shisui is young. While Hiruzen had been an old fool, too stuck in his ways, he has little doubt Shisui will be the breath of fresh air that the whole village craves.

That night he sits in front of his clan, watching as they file into the meeting hall. Only the elders and prominent members of the community have been invited tonight, as Fugaku does not have the time to listen to every last person's squabbles with the village. There are many complaints, some more valid than others, and far too many centered on who Sarutobi-san had chosen to succeed him. While Shisui has always been popular, very few assembled tonight missed his attempts to distance himself from the clan. Makato and Mashiro are quick to denounce Sarutobi-san and Shisui, claiming that by choosing Shisui over Itachi, Sarutobi has shamed the clan. Fugaku keeps his face impassive as he listens, despite knowing what a disaster that would have been. Itachi is a genius, and far too kind a ninja, but if the past few months have taught Fugaku anything, it's that Itachi is not ready for that level of stress. He watched his son waste away once and will not willingly do so again.

Eventually the pointless complaints stop and people begin to address the real issues. The isolation of the clan, the distrust of the villagers, the lack of funding for the police department. The list goes on and on. Some of it, Fugaku thinks would be fairly easy to fix. The Hyuuga are already given some input on which jonin-sensei their children are paired with, it wouldn't be hard to allow the Uchiha the same privilege. Others are much harder. While it is true that many in the village hate and fear the Uchiha enough that policing certain streets has become too dangerous for anyone below jonin, there is little the Hokage can do to make people _like the clan more_. As talented as Shisui is, not even he can control people's thoughts and feelings.

Even with attendance limited, the meeting drags on into the night. Everyone has problems and no one had any good solutions. Sometimes Fugaku thinks, the only way to bring peace to the clan is with the death of everyone in this room. But at long last, everyone has had their say. Fugaku is rather sure that has more to do with the fact sunrise is less than an hour away than anyone truly being pleased. Still, he is thankful it's over, and he and Mikoto take advantage of the time they have to relax before the meeting with Shisui.

Fugaku wakes up less than an hour before he needs to be at the tower, sweaty, cold and sore. He fumbles through his morning preparations, thankful that he's no longer an active duty shinobi. He's too old to be staying up all night and can't imagine having to be mission ready right now. When he finally gets to the kitchen, Sasuke is just leaving. He wishes his son a good day and is shocked when Sasuke's whole face lights up. Has it really been so long since he said anything kind to the boy? Fugaku shakes that thought off uncomfortably and nods goodbye to his son. Mikoto is grinning at him as she places a hot bowl of miso soup before him. Her hair looks radiant in the morning light. When she leans over him, he reaches up to touch it and Mikoto laughs. "I'm afraid," she says, "you have a meeting with the Hokage soon. Perhaps when you get back." And he has to sigh, because she is right, as usual. She hands him an overview of last night's meeting, including some of her own thoughts, and he realizes, not for the first time, how lucky he is to have the love of such a smart, talented wife.

Still, the last thing he needs is to be late to the tower. He finishes up his breakfast, says his goodbyes to Mikoto, grabs his flak jacket and heads out the door. The tower is, unsurprisingly, much as it has been every other time he visited. But, while the building has not changed, the energy within it has. He notices far more people milling around, trying to see the Hokage. The staff appear more motivated as well, many of them running back and forth on various tasks. A young child without a flak jacket, probably genin, nearly crashes into him while carrying a far too large stack of papers. Luckily, Fugaku is aging, not incapable, and he is able to sidestep the child and steady the papers before any harm is done.

After several more such instances, he is not as cavalier about the whole thing. There is enthusiastic and then there is careless, and Shisui really should be ensuring that the activity is more the first than the second. By the time he makes his way to Shisui's office, he has had to dodge a number of ninja, save several fragile items from falling and maneuver around a hoard of star-struck chunin. He is, all in all, rather pissed.

Shisui sits behind his desk in full Hokage regalia, Fugaku notes. He looks ridiculous, though the robes tend to do that to everyone. Itachi stands behind him, a silent shadow. Fugaku doesn't know how to feel. It bothers him to see his son so subservient to any, even the Hokage. And while he would normally be pleased the boy had managed to work his way so far into the Hokage's inner circle, he fears now more than ever that Itachi is more Shisui's piece than his own.

"Uchiha-san," Shisui says, nodding slightly. Fugaku bows as much as is appropriate before moving to stand in front of Shisui's desk. There are no chairs in the room, a rather transparent power play, but one he is used to. Shisui smiles slightly at him, and though it does not reach his eyes, it is not mocking either. "I am glad you were able to come on such short notice. I apologize, but the schedule of meetings was just finalized yesterday." Fugaku nodded. He rather doubted anyone would leave the Clan Head meetings until so late, but there is nothing but sincerity on the new Hokage's face. "I must admit there are a number of people I am to see today, so I'll get to the point. What items would you and your clan like to see addressed during my time as Hokage?" Fugaku blinks and _really looks_ at Shisui for the first time. Gone is the talented child who would do anything for praise. Gone too is the loyal clansman who would do anything for the clan. In his place sits a frighteningly intelligent and capable leader. Fugaku will have to be careful of his handling of the boy if he wishes to gain any measure of influence over him.

"Hokage-sama," he says, "I thank you for the privilege of your time. I have spoken to the Uchiha clan and we are overjoyed with your appointment." That might be a bit of an overstatement, but he doubts anyone will mind. "As I am sure you know, we have had some past disagreements with the treatment of the Uchiha by the village. The elders would be pleased if you would consider returning to us our previous holdings in the center of the village, work more closely with the military police to consolidate responsibilities and work on funding shortfalls and, perhaps most importantly, publically announce that the Uchiha Clan was not involved in the release of the Kyuubi on the night of the Yondaime's death." Fugaku notes that neither boy seems surprised by the demands, though as both were privy to the secret council and plans for the coup, that is hardly surprising.

What follows is one of the most grueling negotiation sessions Fugaku has ever participated in. Shisui seems determined to undermine nearly every one of his demands and give him a pittance in return. For the first time, Fugaku begins to feel peace with the village may never be a reality. And through it all, Itachi stands silently behind Shisui, his tacit support clear. Fugaku fears he has already lost his son. No matter what though, it is clear that if Itachi plans to remain a puppet of this Hokage, he cannot also be head of the Uchiha. Thankfully, that is a problem for another time.

When he returns to Mikoto later that day, it is not without good news. While Shisui was noncommittal about many of the Uchiha demands, he did agree to work with the council to reveal all known facts about the day of the attack. He claimed there were too many secrets doing more harm than good. While it was by no means Fugaku's only demand, and will certainly not have an immediate effect, over time it should do much to reduce suspicions and hostility toward the clan. Still, there is more bad news than good, and it looks like the only way the Uchiha will regain even a part of their original holdings back is by sacrificing their autonomy. Shisui has set himself up as a worthy adversary instead of a trustworthy ally.

Perhaps of more importance than the negotiation itself is what Fugaku has _learned_ about their new Hokage. While his interactions with this new version of Shisui have been limited, he has confirmed his earlier suspicions. If he can figure out how to control Itachi, Shisui will fall as well. And, while he hates to reduce his children to mere pieces on a game board, he will sacrifice anything he must to protect his clan. That is his duty as clan head, and it is one he has and never will regret.

That night, he and Mikoto talk about the future of their family, the clan and the village.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary:** Danzo act super sketchy.

 **Notes:** Here's chapter 6. I'll probably be posting a little faster now (I'm aiming for once every week or so). Hard to tell, FFN keeps crashing my browser and posting stuff on mobile is a nightmare.

Danzo long ago acknowledged his place as the shadow protector of Konoha. After the debacle with Namikaze and his paramour, after Hiruzen retook the hat, he came to terms with the fact he would never become the Hokage. And in a way, he realizes it's better this way. While the Hokage only answers to the Daimyo in theory, in truth he does not have such absolute power. There are many political machinations that go on behind closed doors. Danzo, however, has ruled Konoha uncontested from the shadows since Hiruzen first took the hat. While the Hokage stands in the light of hopeless idealism, he stands in the dark greys of reality, protecting the Hokage and governing Konoha behind the scenes. Danzo has done many things that would turn entire villages against him if they knew. He no longer bothers to feel guilt over what must be done. Konoha's safety always comes first, even over the temporary wellbeing of her people.

He is out of the village, brokering an agreement with the Traitor Sannin, when he first hears of Hiruzen's folly. A single scrap of paper reading "The third chose an Uchiha to succeed him" arrives by messenger bird. He wants to rush back, to take care of Hiruzen's mess with all the tools at his disposal. He wants to find out who manipulated the old fool into this. He had not thought even Hiruzen was blind enough to trust the _Uchiha_ with more power. But he cannot. It is imperative that he and Orochimaru come to an understanding. The village can ill afford to lose more of its bloodlines to the traitor's labs, and if that means they must turn a blind eye to his experiments on civilians? So be it. Konoha must survive.

It takes weeks to finally reach an agreement. Orochimaru has always been an intelligent and slippery individual. Danzo would like nothing better than to slit his throat, but the time is not right. As distasteful as it is, the man still has a role to play.

It is not until Danzo is within a day's walk of Konoha that he learns more. One of his agents kneels before him, holding a single scroll above his head. Danzo takes it and dismisses the child.

It could be worse, he supposes as he reads the scroll. While Hiruzen did chose an Uchiha, he did not chose an entirely unknown entity. Uchiha Shisui has been a jonin of the village since he was a young teenager and has earned notoriety in a number of the weaker shinobi nations. He may be a strong enough ninja to keep the other Kages in line, though Danzo suspects his reputation comes more from the sharingan than any effort on the Uchiha's part. Though, if this Uchiha is more open minded, he may even be able to strengthen Konoha in ways Hiruzen was too soft to do. He has always admired their militant efficiency, even as he recognized the threat they posed the village. Though, should the worst come to pass, Uchiha are not so hard to dispose of. With their tendency towards madness, he knows it will not be difficult to arrange an accident. Regardless of Hiruzen's wishes, Danzo will not allow anyone to jeopardize the village.

It takes only a few talks with the council to determine that it is not bribery, blackmail or mind control that gave Uchiha Shisui his position. Unless there is a technique that can blend seamlessly within the host mind, Hiruzen and the council have all been considering the boy for some time. Danzo's lack of knowledge on this matter is just that, a shortcoming on his own part. This entire debacle is purely Danzo's fault, he realizes, feeling his age for the first time in years. He never should have left the village in such a delicate state. Especially not to deal with as petty a threat as Orochimaru. This is what happens, he thinks, when one allows hubris to get the best of them. He had left the village, secure in the knowledge that he had put all his pieces in play and all that remained was watching them fulfill their parts.

The Uchiha have always been predictable in their ire. He had known years ago that they would need to be eliminated. Hiruzen was actions are similarly easy to anticipate. He had known the man's distaste for spilled blood and so set up his countermeasures in absolute secret. Even without his direct supervision, everything had been planned out meticulously. The Uchiha were a boil that had needed lancing. Once they finally rebelled the wound could be cleansed. He had known the coup would force both Hiruzen's and little Itachi's hands. He had trusted Hiruzen to react his usual weak way and he knew the child would carry out his orders well enough. While the boy was willful, he broke to the bit with little real effort. Genius or not, it was in his blood to bend to a firm guiding hand. He had assumed that by the time he returned from Orochimaru, the incident would have blown over and the village would finally have been given a chance to heal.

But no, somehow he had completely misjudged the situation. Somehow he had missed that Hiruzen was contemplating a far more disastrous plan. Less straightforward and certainly less likely to succeed. He could not see why the man was willing to risk the existence of the entire village on the whims of single clan. While he hated to waste an entire bloodline, what was the continued existence of such an arrogant family against the entire future of Konoha?

Before he can do anything though, he must gather more information. Danzo has been out of the village for nearly three months and he knows that much has changed. After his mishandling of the Uchiha problem, he is unwilling to act on flawed assumptions again. He has learned his lesson. Never again will he leave such delicate work unsupervised. After all, even the best forged blade can miss.

He has already spoken to Hiruzen, Koharu and Homura, but now he speaks with his spies. They have little to add, saying only that the Uchiha is loved. He has had little opportunity to show his true colors, but his talent for showmanship has easily won the masses. Civilians are excited at the energy a new Hokage represents and even the shinobi are willing to extend the benefit of the doubt. While there are still many grievances he has yet to address, the Hyuuga and Uchiha relations chief among them, the village retains an optimism eerily reminiscent of Namikaze's early days.

Besides those rather limited reports though, Danzo has nothing. He has never paid much mind to the individual members of any of the clans. The wheat has a way of separating from the chaff and for the rest? Clans breed true. Even the geniuses tend to fit into the same mold. Nara are lazy but smart, Hyuuga are arrogant and Uchiha are brash. With few exceptions, he has never needed to know much more.

Now that lack of foresight burns. He has already seen the Uchiha's file, both his public one and the secret one kept deep within ANBU, but neither are very enlightening. He already knows the boy's past. A product of the war, the boy rose quickly through the ranks, achieving jonin by thirteen. While standards are lower during active combat, Uchiha Shisui has always been considered something of a prodigy. Unlike most of his clan, he chose to master speed melee attacks, though he is by no means limited to them. But all this is useless. There are no notes on his mental stability, his character, his ability to lead.

Danzo himself remembers watching the boy shortly after he was admitted to ANBU; though the Uchiha's insubordinate attitude and constant absence made him ultimately abandon him. The heir had been far more docile and a more important piece, or so Danzo had thought. Apparently he has misjudged a number of things of late.

This is when Danzo realizes he will need to speak to the new Hokage sooner rather than later. He cannot rely on past observations moving forward.

He is not sure what he expected when he entered Hiruzen's old office. The room is much the same as it has always been. ANBU guards are stationed outside the doors and windows, and the desk sits in the center of the room, papers neatly stacked in towering piles. Uchiha Shisui sits on the chair, looking surprisingly comfortable with his role despite his youth. Behind him stands Uchiha Itachi, the only ANBU guard actually within the Hokage's office. Though, Danzo doubts guarding is the main reason for the younger Uchiha's presence.

While Danzo is old, he is not unobservant. He can tell how quickly the ANBU mask was shoved back on. And if that weren't enough, the ink stains on little Itachi's arms and small pile of papers hastily shoved under the desk make his more administrative role clear. Danzo smiles to himself. If the village were to find out just how much the Uchiha heir did for the new Hokage, there could be riots. No one wants one clan to have undue influence. The fact that Uchiha Itachi is more _puppet_ than _puppeteer_ is something Danzo will keep to himself.

The new Hokage looks up at him, his dark eyes clearly assessing Danzo. While Uchiha Shisui remains conspicuously relaxed, his face a mask of casual interest, Danzo has had enough dealings with Uchiha to see the hidden tension. Little Itachi stands behind, clearly at attention and not bothering to hide his wariness. It is time to see what this new Hokage is made of, to see how much of an obstacle he will be to Danzo's mission of protecting Konoha.

Danzo allows himself to smile in something approaching friendliness. "Good morning, Hokage-sama," he says, stopping the appropriate distance from the desk and bowing slightly. Uchiha Shisui narrows his eyes, but does not demand to know what Danzo is doing here, or why he hadn't come sooner. Danzo is not surprised, for he has built up no expectations of the Uchiha. He is, however, pleased. It is good to see the Uchiha display some signs of patience and tact.

When Danzo is sure he has the boy's full attention, he continues, "I wished to congratulate you on your appointment. I am gladdened to see your successes so far in appeasing the Uchiha." Danzo does not miss how both Uchiha tense, by this point he has little doubts both of them know what his solution for the Uchiha problem had been, and he wants to smile at their innocence. He is experienced enough to know that no friendship can survive such a crushing power imbalance as Lord and tool, but the fact they even try is... refreshing. Soon enough Uchiha Shisui will learn that the only thing that matters in the world is power and the will to use it, the will to turn even one's closest friends into pawns.

Uchiha Shisui remains polite for the duration of their meeting. And to reward him, Danzo imparts some of what he has learned about village sentiment. However, he listens and watches more than he shares. He is not ordered to leave when Hyuuga Hiashi comes in. There is nothing in the village he is not cleared to know, but he does not linger long.

He watches as the boys interact. Noting how effortlessly Itachi blends into the background, keeping watch on the Hyuuga even when Shisui is looking away. He sees how the new Hokage handles the petty complaints. His subtle redirections and mastery of working others to his point of view. After Danzo leaves he is not quite sure what to make of Uchiha Shisui. The boy is more complex than he had thought. His mind is sharp and he has no qualms controlling all those around him. Danzo decides he does not yet have enough information to form a comprehensive opinion.

Over the following weeks he drops in more and more often. Uchiha Shisui is never alone. Young Itachi stays behind him like a shadow, never speaking or appearing to give an opinion. Of course, that doesn't stop other forms of communication, and more than once, Danzo has seen the pair use a variation of ANBU handsigns. He begins to realize that despite appearances, their relationship is more equal than he had first believed. And for all that Danzo has always believed sharing power to be a weakness, he finds himself beginning to respect the new Hokage. He is not as ruthless as Danzo, but he is willing to listen to what Danzo says. He is willing to make hard choices.

Danzo realizes that he will never be Hokage, and Uchiha Shisui is far less tolerant of him than Hiruzen was. But despite that, he is happy. Although he will not be able to act with as much impunity as he has in the past, not without working directly counter to the Hokage's wishes, Uchiha Shisui can be taught. It will take subtlety and time, but Danzo recognizes a kindred spirit of sorts in this Uchiha. In some ways, Uchiha Shisui reminds him of himself. For all he pretends at kindness, Uchiha Shisui has the ambition and ruthlessness that will one day make him a great leader of men. So for now, Danzo bides his time, and plans. Once everything has settled down, he will work with his new Hokage, teach and shape him until nothing can stand in his way, in Konoha's way. And through it all, Danzo will rule from the shadows.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary:** Some fluff! Shisui goes apartment shopping

 **Notes:** Here's chapter 7. I apparently fail at updating in a timely manner, though I believe this is the second chapter this month, so that could be a record of sorts.

It takes about two months before Shisui truly begins to feel like he's, at least nominally, running the village. It helps that he finally manages to scrounge up the time to look for a place of his own, outside the Uchiha district. While no one has actually evicted him, he figures it's only a matter of time. No one in the clan will look him in the eye, and he gets the feeling Itachi's the only one who actually likes him there. Which isn't that big of a change really. He'd always occupied a rather strange place in the clan hierarchy. He was one of the few ninja able to keep up with, and at times _surpass_ , Itachi, but his parents hadn't been officially married, and the clan was traditional enough that that mattered.

Apartment shopping, especially as Hokage, is a novel experience. He hasn't actually done anything like it before, so he isn't that upset when Homura offers assistance selecting an appropriate building. While he'd kind of figured he'd just pick out a place near the tower, it's nice to have some advice on the matter. When Koharu gets involved he'd been rather expecting it. The two of them are a pair and it's unusual to see one without the other. Itachi's involvement is also a given. Shisui has come to expect his presence in much the same way he expects gravity. It would take a force of nature to remove Itachi from his side. What he does not expect is everyone else in the tower offering input on his living situation. It gets to the point where Shisui blocks them all out and counts down days in his head until the much anticipated apartment shopping excursion.

When the day finally arrives, Shisui notices he's managed to pick up an extra guard. It only takes a glance to recognize the mask of the ANBU commander. All in all, he's actually surprised that only one person decided to tag along. By the time they leave the tower that is no longer true. Two or three analysts along with a kunoichi he vaguely remembers flirting with quickly catch up to them. Not long after several chunin from the mission desk join up as well. By the time he makes it to the first building, Shisui feels like some sort of feudal lord, complete with entourage.

The landlady comes out to greet him personally and is practically falling over herself to show off the flat. It's... nice enough. There's a kitchen and a second bedroom, so Itachi could have his own space. Most importantly though, it's almost a straight shot to the tower, so he could shunshin there in his sleep, probably. He's about to ask how much in rent, when Koharu tells him that this place just won't do. The owner tries to explain, but Shisui is already being dragged away. It happens too fast for him to even feel properly indignant. He can't remember the last time anyone thought to manhandle him. It was probably before his mom died. The second place, he's told, has too many windows and is in "the wrong part of town." Shisui points out that he's S-Ranked, and the Hokage, so he should be able to defend himself. He also finds it _very_ unlikely anyone could get to him within Konoha, or more accurately, anyone who wishes him harm wouldn't need to rely on extra windows or the neighborhood to get him. But Homura seconds his guards concerns and they move on to the next place.

It's around the time the visit the third building that Shisui realizes he's actually enjoying himself. Even surrounded by people he has actively betrayed and deceived. He isn't sure what's changed, but their concern for him has begun to feel genuine, almost endearing. It has been many years since anyone looked out for his wellbeing. While he's sure the guilt will come back later, once he returns to paperwork and politics and everything else being Hokage entails, for now he lets himself relish the sense of belonging he's hasn't felt since the death of his genin team. As the approach the third place, he's not surprised when they veto it. The ad had made it seem less dilapidated and had completely neglected to mention the lack of any sort of functional roof. He's half convinced the walls are held up by chakra, and he's not sure why the building hasn't been condemned.

By evening they've been through six or seven apartments and Shisui is more comfortable than he's been in years. And then they find it. The seventh, or eighth, flat is perfect. It's got a contemporary vibe and comes with furniture, which was something Shisui hadn't even considered before. It's in a better part of town and while there's only one sleeping room, it's big enough Itachi could probably stay over if he wanted. Unfortunately, the place is still not dignified enough for someone of "his status." His guards are concerned by how many neighbors he'd have in an apartment building and the owner of the building is apparently someone that Shisui "wouldn't want to publicly associate with." When he asked what that meant, the ANBU commander said something about extreme political views. And that's when Shisui realizes as fun as it is to let his advisors and guards and assorted staff fuss over him, this picking his apartment by committee is _not_ going to work. He's never going to find a place if his landlord and neighbors all need to pass a background check.

He doesn't let the realization ruin the evening though, and as they all troop off to dinner he makes vague promises of going out again. Everyone agrees that that really would be for the best, and Homura mentions something about working with the ANBU commander to compile a list of suitable domiciles. Shisui thanks him for the thought and diverts the conversation. With little effort on his part, he manages to get everyone drinking, and by the time they all head back to the tower, Itachi is probably the only sober one among them. Shisui grins, only slightly tipsy himself, with any luck none of them will remember enough about tonight to actually try to follow up on the whole Find Shisui a House thing.

It's two days later before he can clear his schedule again. This time, he leaves clones of himself and Itachi in the office. He tells himself he doesn't feel any guilt for deceiving his guard, and if anything important comes up, he's pretty sure he can return in under a few seconds. He might not be the Yellow Flash, but he's still pretty damn fast. He and Itachi henge into unassuming chunin and Shisui relishes the anonymity. It's the first time since he took office that no one has crowded him in an attempt to shake his hand or touch his shoulder. And, while he's never had difficulty performing in front of a crowd, as Hokage he finds himself missing having time to himself.

With only Itachi, the search is much easier. Itachi doesn't speak much in public, even with the henge, but he's more than willing to share his insights on apartment shopping when they're more or less alone. He notices things Shisui overlooks, like the size of the oven, the functionality of the floorplans and the versatility of space. Shisui focuses on bigger picture items, like how obnoxious the neighbors are and whether or not he can stand to live in a place that smells of fried eggs all the time. It's refreshing to have someone practical to debate pros and cons with. And for all that Itachi doesn't have any more experience on his own than Shisui does, he tends to approach problems in a much more methodical manner than Shisui.

After several hours of searching, and a few close calls once the Hokage Guard realize that they've lost their charge, Shisui begins to realize that apartment shopping might take longer than he'd anticipated. While he knew there was more to it than picking up a new pair of shoes, he'd never really thought about how involved the process was.

Itachi is getting bored, and probably tired considering how little sleep the two of them have been getting. And Shisui knows if he doesn't find something soon, they'll have to give up for the day, something he'd really like to avoid.

They've already gone through Shisui's entire list and he's sitting on a park bench, trying to think of somewhere they haven't already looked at when Itachi nudges him. He looks over at his best, and at this point pretty much only, friend. Itachi gives him a rather neutral look that Shisui translates into "Shisui, you're being really stupid and what I'm about to say will rub your face in it," or something along those lines before saying, "Why don't you return to one of the apartments from last time. I believe there were several you found acceptable." And yeah, Shisui does feel rather dumb now, because they could have done that from the very beginning and Shisui could have had his own flat already.

So they do. And Shisui learns that there is a lot more to renting a flat than there is to buying a pair of shoes. Like leases and paperwork and identification. All of which take time, and his real face. Without the henge, though everything moves along a lot faster. He's even offered a better rental rate and the chance to buy the place and all its furniture outright. And he knows it's an abuse of his position, but whatever. Shisui doesn't want to pay rent and if he can get an apartment and all the furniture in it right now _and own it_? It'd be stupid not to.

He signs the paperwork that night, and it gets filed within an hour. He doesn't know who exactly had to be hunted down this late at night, but he's glad they were. Once he's given the key, he manages to subtly get everyone else out and for the first time in his life he has a place of his own. It's... nice. Probably nicer than he deserves, all things considered, but that's not something he wants to think about. He'd rather focus on now, on how smoothly everything is going and on how he finally has privacy.

He also wants to ward and trap the perimeter, but it's been a long day in a very long week. Between mediating clan complaints and facing down a concerningly civil and helpful Danzo, he's just too tired. Itachi has already claimed the couch and the warmest blanket by the time Shisui manages to get around to exploring his new home. Which is pretty typical as far as Itachi is concerned. It's cold enough Shisui contemplates taking the blanket back, but he really doesn't want to discourage any signs of normalcy or initiative in their relationship. He still hasn't managed to sit down and work out exactly where they stand after the whole Itachi all but swearing eternal fealty to him, but Itachi's been slowly returning to his old self. Or as close an approximation as possible, now that Shisui's Hokage and Itachi has always been far to obsessed with protocol. So instead, Shisui bundles up as best as he can and goes to sleep.

When he wakes up the next day, it's in his new room in his new home. Itachi is up, but since there's no food yet, he hasn't even attempted to make breakfast. Shisui smiles. _Everything_ in his life has changed from just six months ago, and a great deal of it is his fault. He'll probably never be able to forgive himself for what he's done to the Hokage- to Sarutobi-san, or to Homura and Koharu. But here, in his own place, he feels the first tendrils of hope. Hope for the Uchiha, hope for village and hope for himself. He'll worry his guilt and the myriad of things that weigh upon his soul later. For now, his mind is filled again with thousands of possibilities.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary:** Back to plot related stuff. Little Sakura gets an adventure of her own, and handles herself remarkably well.

 **Notes:** Here's chapter 8! And in a rather timely manner even! I probably wouldn't get used to it though.

Sakura grins as she tears down the streets. Ino is just a few steps behind, but she knows the two of them are pretty evenly matched. As long as she doesn't trip, there's no way she can lose. And Sakura won't trip. She's going to be a ninja one day and has already started her training. She's only eight now, but even a ninja in training can't afford to make mistakes.

As she gets closer to the village center, the roads get more crowded. She finds herself weaving between people and ducking under obstacles. She wants to close her eyes and just enjoy the freedom of running, of jumping, of being alive. But first she needs to beat Ino.

That's when she notices the handcart directly in front of her. Sakura's brain freezes. She doesn't have enough time to stop and there are too many people on either side to go around. Reacting on instincts she's only recently begun to acquire, Sakura jumps. The cart's piled high with brightly colored fruits and vegetables, each in their own wooden box. Sakura's toes barely skim the top of a pile of tomatoes as she shoots over the cart. She stumbles a little on the landing, just barely able to keep from falling over, but the cart is in a bit worse shape. The tomatoes she nudged fell off in a waterfall of produce. Sakura feels a little bad about the mess, but she can't afford to stop now. Not when she's so very close to _winning_.

Sakura can hear Ino try to switch directions to get around the vendor and his loose vegetables. Sakura grins wider. It'll take Ino at least a few extra seconds to get through, which is more than enough time.

Shoving her way through the crowd, Sakura slips into one of the many side streets off of Konoha's main thoroughfare. She'd discovered this path running errands for her grandfather last summer. It was a lot twistier than the main street, but no one really uses it, so it's a lot easier to run through. As long as Ino doesn't follow her in, everything will be fine.

Sakura risks a glance backwards, but she's already far enough down the alley that she can't see the end. For a second she thinks she hears footsteps, but when she stops to listen, they're gone. Sakura shivers a little and starts running again. She's suddenly aware of how _empty_ this street is. For a moment, she thinks she sees a bit of shadow detach itself from a wall, but when she looks again, it's gone. Sakura puts her head down and focuses on the rhythmic pounding of her feet, running one step at a time.

When the footsteps resume behind her, clearer than they'd been before, she isn't surprised. She's only been at the academy for a few months, but that's enough time to learn that Konoha has a lot of enemies. Especially now, with a new Hokage. People say that he's too young to _actually_ be Hokage, but Sakura kind of disagrees. She doesn't know much about Shisui-san, she's only really seen him from a distance, but she knows the Third Hokage would never have appointed someone he didn't believe in. And not only that, Shisui-san really isn't that much younger than the Fourth Hokage was when he was appointed. She's sure the new Hokage is strong enough to keep Konoha safe.

Not that any of that is much comfort now, alone as she is. She's certain now that she's being followed by someone bad. Ino wouldn't have bothered trying to hide her presence and Sakura can't think of anyone else she knows who would follow her. Not like this. As she runs further down the street, her tension builds. She's past the halfway point now, so even if she wanted to, there'd be no point in turning back. Now she can definitely catch a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye. And she wonders why she's the one being followed, and she's sure that she _is_ being followed. She's just the daughter of a pair of insignificant civilians. She's not important enough to follow.

When she finally sees a human shape on the roof she's not sure what to feel. She's almost relieved to know that her instincts were right, she was being followed, but the mere fact that the person is letting her see him (or her) now is absolutely terrifying. That's the moment she realizes how very serious this situation is. An infiltrating agent must _never_ allow witnesses to live, no matter how insignificant they are. That's why she's not very surprised when she half senses a spike of killing intent behind her. They haven't really covered sensing enemies yet in the academy, but sometimes being best friends with Ino is useful. Ino's father taught both of them way more stuff than the academy evered covered. So it's based on instincts she never even realized she had that has her dropping to the ground in a forward roll even before the sudden stream of flame gets near. Even so, she can feel the heat from it through her clothes. It's almost enough to melt the synthetic fibers of her shirt. One direct hit from that and she'll be dead.

And even before she's on her feet again, Sakura yells the distress code all academy students are taught at the top of her lungs. As soon as she's upright she runs. She doesn't waste time trying to look at her attacker. She knows that she isn't strong enough to fight him and now she must make every last second count. Taking out threats to the village is what ANBU and the police force are for. At first she tries adding some variability to her movement, so she will be harder to hit. But that winds up slowing her down too much. It only takes one near miss to make her realize she will have better luck trying to anticipate and dodge attacks instead of moving at random.

Sakura holds back tears. She shouldn't be the one here, dealing with this. This is what the adults, ANBU, the Hokage are for. This isn't _fair_. But now is not the time for that. She needs to be strong; she _is_ strong. Ninja do not fear anything. And right now, even though she hasn't graduated yet, she must be a ninja. She needs to make sure ANBU or the Hokage know about this intruder. If she dies, then he gets away free and the whole village could be in danger.

As she runs the world narrows to her and the path. She is dimly aware of her pursuer, enough to dodge his attacks. But if he talks, she does not hear it. All she can hear is the sound of her panting breath as she races through the back street faster than she ever has before. Never has it seemed so long. It isn't until the end is almost in sight that she stumbles for the first time. Her attacker throws a kunai at her foot without releasing any killing intent. Sakura's only warning is the sound of displaced air telling her to jump. As she comes down again, her ankle rolls painfully, forcing her to stoop and barely miss another stream of flame. Sakura hardly has time to whisper a prayer of thanks before she is running again, her ankle throbbing in time with her pulse as she tears down the street.

It's as she's about to round the final bend that the fight turns serious for the first time. Sakura freezes as the very ground lifts up, forming a wall across the entire street. It stands almost two stories tall and spanning the entire way. Perfectly smooth, she realizes there is no way she can scale or get around it. She turns around to face her opponent, keeping her back pressed against the wall. He stands less than two meters away, dressed in black from head to toe. He's even wearing a black face mask. Sakura thinks rather spitefully that it looks dumb. He acts like infiltrating Konoha is so easy he doesn't even bother to fit in. She can feel her whole body shaking, though whether from anger, fear, exhaustion or pain, she's not sure. Maybe it's a combination of all four. Even after she regains her breath, every nerve in her body is ready to spring into action. In her hyper aware state, it feels like she can even hear her opponents heartbeat, as impossible as that really is. Though, that's probably why she's able to notice the presence of a third party first. She can see a child-sized form standing on the roof of one of the buildings, his spiky blonde hair recognizable even backlit as it is.

"Run, Naruto," she yells as loud as she can. If Naruto can tell the Hokage, then it won't matter if she- Then no matter what happens next, Konoha will be okay. "Let the Hoka-" but before she can finish her shout, the enemy ninja launches into action, throwing kunai at both her and Naruto.

"That," says the man, and he is definitely a male, "was very stupid, little girl." His voice is calm without a hint of malice or stress. He walks towards her with perfectly even steps, each one exactly as long as the one before it. Despite his apparent composure, Sakura can hardly breathe underneath the weight of his killing intent. She's barely able to glance back to where Naruto had been to make sure he's gone. In that moment, Sakura realizes she has never truly understood the meaning of the word terror.

The man stops less than half a meter from her and gazes at her face. With his mask concealing everything but his eyes, it's impossible to read any emotion in his actions. His eyes are perfectly blank, not a shred of humanity behind them. For some reason it's this more than anything that scares her. "I was," he says almost reasonably, "going to get rid of you cleanly. No muss, no fuss and no one the wiser of my presence." He looks her up and down before staring at her face again. "Unfortunately, you've made that a bit impossible now, haven't you?" Sakura looks back at him blankly until she realizes he expects a response. Mutely, she manages to nod her head. Every muscle protests the action. "But now that stealth is out of the question," he continues, and she wonders if he's enjoying himself, "you and I have quite a bit more time to... enjoy ourselves. And maybe, if we're lucky enough, we'll be able to take out that new Hokage of yours too. Hmm?" Before she can move, blue wires made out of pure chakra shoot from his fingers and burrow into her skin. Sakura can't help it, she screams. The tendrils burn as the dig deeper into her, somehow passing through skin and muscle without leaving a mark. "Now my little puppet," he says, and now she can hear a hint of excitement in his tone, "let's play."

Sakura stares down as her legs begin to move shakily toward him. She tries to cry out, but her voice won't respond. She can't move her head to look around, not even her eyes do what she wants. Suddenly Sakura begins to panic, but her breathing and heart rate stay the same, it's as if she's just a ghost inside her own body. Her steps are uncomfortably long now, her short legs barely able to stretch far enough. Her ankle hurts more too, and several times it threatens to give out. Her body does wind up falling over, before it reaches the man. Despite the sharp pain of scraped knee and the spike of pain from her injured ankle, she feels a deep feeling of satisfaction. Apparently this man can't control her body as well as he thinks he can. She can hear him muttering words that she doesn't know. And with a sharp jerk, her body shoves itself upright. It wobbles for a moment and almost falls back down, but manages to throw its arms out at the last moment to regain its balance.

As her body nears him, he grabs it roughly. This close, she can smell him. He reeks of alcohol, sweat and bad breath. His gloves are much coarser than they looked. The rough material scratches at her shoulder as he holds her in place. Since she can't pull away from him or even close her eyes, she tries to force her mind away. She ignores the feeling of his large hands roughly skimming over her body, cataloguing every muscle and imperfection. She ignores the acrid stench of him as stares into her eyes and inspects her teeth. She ignores everything.

She can still feel her body moving, but it is more distant. Like breathing, it's something that happens by itself. She can also hear the man speaking to her, but she does not bother to understand his words. Instead she focuses on what she knows. She isn't sure what he used on her. It's like nothing she's ever even heard of. But it must be a technique of some sort. And like Iruka-sensei has told them, no technique is perfect. There must be some way to counter it. She ignores the part of her that says she is only an academy student and does not have the skill or knowledge to escape something like this. She may only be Haruno Sakura, but she is one of the top kunoichi in her class. Even Ino's father, one of the village's best interrogators, said she was very good for her age.

What did the chakra wires attach themselves to? She could feel them under her skin, burning. But she didn't think they were connecting directly to her muscles and just pulling them around. It didn't feel like she was being yanked about, he was actually controlling her body. That meant it had to be connected to her nerves? Or her chakra paths! Nerves were very small. It would have taken a lot more precision to try to hit them accurately. But chakra paths... Chakra ran throughout the entire body and could be used to grant extra strength and faster reflexes. If someone else gained access to it, could it be used to control the body though? She didn't know. Iruka-sensei had never said anything about that. But then, no one had ever said it was possible to use chakra to take control of a person like this. If it was her chakra he was controlling, could she fight it? She knew that disrupting the flow of chakra could stop a genjutsu. Maybe this would be similar? But pain was also supposed to break genjutsu, and falling hadn't done anything. And, Iruka-sensei hadn't actually taught them how to even disrupt chakra yet. That was something they were supposed to learn in a few years. He'd just shown it to them in a demonstration. Not to mention, without control of her hands, she couldn't even make the sign. It had been a stupid idea anyway. How could she hope to fight against this man? He was probably a jonin at least. No one would bother sending genin or chunin to infiltrate Konoha. Still... maybe it was worth trying?

Sakura tried to imagine what her chakra network might look like. It was made much harder by the fact that she couldn't actually close her eyes and her body was moving. It danced through acrobatic routines she could only dream of doing. In this man's hands, her body became a deadly weapon, and the dizzying amount of sensory information was almost impossible to completely ignore. The textbook had shown it as a bunch of blue lines that connected to everything in her body, with a well of chakra in her stomach somewhere. She tried to feel it, but nothing seemed to stand out. Stupid, she told herself. Of course it wouldn't stand out. She'd been born with chakra, it wouldn't feel any different now than it had the day before. She would just have to... find it anyway.

She tried to focus everything on finding and disrupting her chakra. Her anger, her fear, her desperation. She might not control her body right now, or really much of anything, but she could control this. Nothing happened. She felt like crying. She wasn't a ninja, she was barely even an academy student. How could she possibly have thought she could escape this? The horror of watching, of feeling her body move without her control threatened again to overwhelm her.

Then her body was at attention. It stands next to her captor, grasping a knife tightly in its hand. She can feel her captor practically pressed next to her and vibrating with energy. "Look alive," he says, "We're about to have company." Company? Has the Hokage finally, finally, arrived? She isn't sure how long it's actually been, but it feels like an eternity.

Almost immediately after the man speaks, a form drops down to the street in a crouch. Despite having dark hair, this man is not the Hokage. For starters, he's much younger and his hair, even tied back, hangs past his shoulders. He wears an ANBU uniform without the mask, unlike the Hokage's typical clothes, but most of all it's his expression. His eyes are as impassive as her captor's. There's not a hint of the smile the Hokage always wears. The stand opposite each other, and for a brief moment, Sakura is afraid the ANBU operative will kill her to get to her captor. But the moment passes when Naruto's voice yells "Please, rescue Sakura-chan." The ANBU operative doesn't turn to look at Naruto before ordering him to go.

Sakura can't turn her head to see if Naruto obeys, but from the slight change in the ANBU operative stance, she's pretty sure he did. Her captor shifts somewhat and she can hear the rustling of fabric at her side, but no matter how hard she tries, she can't shift to look at him. And it's as if the reality of the situation has dawned on her again. She feels a fresh wave of terror as she realizes that her body is going to fight against one of Konoha's ANBU.

Her captor doesn't seem to notice her distress, all of his attention on the lone ANBU operative. "Well, well," he says, "if it isn't the Hokage's little pet, Itachi." His voice sounds different now, and Sakura realizes it's unmuffled. He must have removed his mask at some point. The ANBU operative, Itachi, doesn't respond. He simply stands watching and waiting. Sakura wonders why he hasn't attacked yet. "I've heard quite a bit about you," her captor continues. "Heir of the Uchiha, ANBU captain at thirteen. Half the world seems to sing your praises. The bounty on your head could set me up for several life times." Itachi continues to watch and wait. "Don't see what they're so impressed about though. You're kinda a one trick pony aren't you? You're genjutsu won't work on me. My eyes are all kinds of screwed up, always have been. No visual genjutsu has ever worked on me." He stops for a moment and shifts, probably trying to assess the impact his words had on his opponent. Sakura wonders if that's why Itachi had been just standing there the whole time. Had they been involved in a genjutsu battle that she hadn't even noticed? "You'll have to try harder than that, if you want to stop me- stop us," he finishes, something very close to glee tinting his words. And then Sakura's body springs into action.

She can feel the rush of wind as her body propels itself at Itachi, her kunai aimed straight for his face. This close she notices his eyes are a spinning red. He dodges at the last second, so she doesn't have a chance to redirect her attack. As her body jumps back at Itachi, Sakura tries again to disrupt whatever form of control the man has on her. It doesn't help, but it does distract her from the battle enough that she loses track of what's happening around her.

She's almost managed to block out the battle completely when Itachi speaks again. "Let the girl go. She has no place in this fight." His voice is calm and surprisingly high pitched. For all that he is older than her and a grown up in the eyes of the village, he isn't an adult in the same way her father is. She wonders for a moment if he had ever felt as scared and powerless as she does. She doubts it.

The man, her captor, continues to taunt Itachi, but he stops responding. The battle almost falls into a certain holding pattern. Her body attacks, Itachi dodges, her captor says something insulting and then repeat. Never once does her captor actually attack. Never once does Itachi try to counter. It feels kind of like an academy spar. Except that her body knows how to fight a lot more than she does. It's predictable until all of a sudden it isn't. It happens so fast Sakura doesn't even see what Itachi does, but one minute her body is attacking him and the next, it's on the ground, not moving. She doesn't really think anything of it until the enemy ninja speaks up again. "Oh come now," he says in clear exasperation. "Don't be like that. It's rude breaking someone else's toys." He emphasizes each word of the last sentence with a punch, shooting new chakra wires out, this time at Itachi. That's when she realizes she's free. She can move her head a little and close her eyes when she wants to. Her limbs don't move much, but they do move. Whatever Itachi did, it freed her. It's the stress, she knows it is. Iruka-sensei lectured them about stress reactions just last week. But still. She can feel that familiar flutter in her chest when she looks at Itachi. The same one she feels around Sasuke-kun. Except Itachi is better in almost every way. And, while she will never admit it out loud, snagging the heir of Uchiha before Ino can would be an amazing feat, especially for a girl without a fancy clan.

Sakura is so absorbed in her thoughts of finally getting above Ino in the village's social hierarchy, and living happily ever after with her fairy tale prince, that she misses the end of the fight. It isn't until the enemy ninja's body falls into her line of sight that she even realizes it's all over. Itachi offers her a hand up, but she's too focused on the body to move. He must notice her concern because after a moment he looks at the ground in front of her and says somewhat haltingly, "He's not dead. I just- we need him alive for questioning. Another squad should be here in a few minutes to pick him up." She nods, somewhat torn between relief that she hadn't just witnessed someone get murdered in cold blood and furious that the person who had torn away her body, used her like a toy, was still alive.

The rest of the day passes in a blur. She winds up standing again while they wait for more ANBU to show up. Once they arrive, Itachi put a mask on at some point, she's not sure where he got it from, but he looks far more terrifying with it. The expressionless wood reminds her too much of the... other mask she saw today. He exchanges some coded phrases. She doesn't understand anything he says, and then carries her to the Hokage's office. Itachi might be one of the most talented ninja in Konoha today, but she can tell he's tired. His body shakes slightly as he puts her down, and he favors his right leg. Sakura wants to apologize for being so much trouble, but can't bring herself to speak.

The Hokage sees them immediately, though since Itachi chose to enter his office through the window, Sakura doubts he had much choice in the matter. After what seems like hours of answering the same questions, he tells Itachi to take her home. But instead of taking her home, Itachi brings her to the hospital. While she doesn't want to face her parents yet, she's sure they would try to make her quit being a ninja, she wants to be in her own room again, surrounded by people who love her. She breaks down crying before she's even been signed in. She can't help it. Everything overwhelms her and no matter what she does, she can't stop. She's crying so hard she can barely breathe. Her nose is running and she knows her face is all splotchy and red. But she can't bring herself to care. She's alive, but the thought of anyone doing that to her again is terrifying. Even the feel of the doctor's hand on her shoulder makes her flinch and cling harder to Itachi. She knows she shouldn't be like this. Ninja don't fear anything, but she's not a ninja yet. She hasn't even finished her first year at the academy. She doesn't even want to think about what she's doing to his uniform. It's probably soaked with her tears and snot. Eventually, he pulls her fingers off his arms and passes her to someone else. Before Sakura can protest, she realizes she's being held safely in her father's arms. And as he strokes her hair and tells her everything will be all right, she finds herself starting to relax. Eventually, she's too tired to cry anymore and she drifts off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Note:** Here's chapter nine. Sorry about the long delay. I wound up killing my computer and then lost access to my FFN account. Luckily things are back up again. Updates should be pretty fast over the next few days as I publish the backlog of written chapters.

Kakashi isn't sure what he was expecting when he was called into the Hokage's office. The message was short and rather purposely sparse on details. While Kakashi is probably one of the top three ninja currently in the village, he tends to avoid the Hokage as much as possible. Seeing Shisui with the hat feels… wrong somehow. It isn't that he doesn't like him, or that he doesn't respect him. But after Minato and the third—well, he doubts anyone else could hope to compare. And Shisui, for his part, is content to rely almost exclusively on Itachi, which works out pretty well.

So when he receives a message requiring his immediate presence in the Hokage's office and absolutely no explanation, he finds himself just curious enough to show up more or less on time. Unsurprisingly, the room is mostly empty. Only slightly more surprisingly, Shisui sits behind his desk, a bit tenser than Kakashi has seen him in a while. His frame is all but shaking with suppressed energy. Somewhat more surprisingly, Danzo is in the room as well. He stands just behind the Hokage, his placid calm a foil to Shisui's sharp tension. While it's certainly not Kakashi's place to dictate who Shisui interacts with, and after purposely removing himself as much as possible from the politics of running the village he really doesn't have any right to criticize, he disapproves of how much time Danzo is spending with the new Hokage. From the rumors he's heard, Danzo has been quietly trying to insinuate himself into Shisui's close group of advisors. Even more troubling is that it seems to be working.

It's only after Kakashi scans the room a second time that he realizes the most troubling part of this meeting. Itachi is absent. He, Shisui and Danzo are alone in the room. While Itachi tends to remain unobtrusive, easily melting into the background of almost any environment, he also acts as a moderating and calming force. If he's been sent away, then Danzo must have even more influence on Shisui than Kakashi had realized. That would be rather… unfortunate.

Kakashi finds himself thrown from his thoughts when Danzo shifts and begins to walk forward. However, before he can get in front of the desk, Shisui stops him with a glance. Kakashi doesn't miss the slight hesitation before the older man concedes and steps back. Apparently things between the two of them weren't as friendly as he'd first supposed.

Shisui finishes stacking his papers and then stands up. Grabbing a thin file folder as he walks briskly over towards Kakashi. "There was an attack. Inside the village. About half an hour ago." Kakashi had heard the commotion, but by the time he'd made it to the scene the perpetrator had already been gone. Kakashi had assumed it had just been another civilian-ninja brawl. While Konoha was fairly peaceful for a ninja village, there was still a decent amount of tension between the military and civilian populations. Especially since the change in Hokage had meant a slight dip in mission requests while clients waited to get the measure of the new leader.

Attack sounds a bit more serious though. Attack implies an enemy of some sort, and that one could get inside the village proper is concerning. It should be very difficult for enemies to get inside enough to stage an "attack." Kakashi feels himself tensing up as he remembers the last time something like this happened. It takes great force of will to push back flashbacks from the third ninja war.

"The perpetrator attacked an academy student who was luckily able to signal for help. Preliminary intelligence suggests that the perpetrator had some sort of ability to control people with chakra strings. According to Ibiki, the perpetrator was unlikely to be working alone." Kakashi can feel the blood draining from his face. It's like the war all over again. Except this time, there will be no Minato to save the day. The third is in retirement and out of practice. Tension between the Uchiha, Hyuuga and Hokage will make coordination difficult. This is very bad. Kakashi suppresses a laugh. Very bad? That's probably one the biggest understatement of all time. If Konoha finds herself in the middle of another war, she probably won't survive. She—

"Kakashi?" Kakashi's mind crashes back to the present at the sound of Shisui's voice. The Hokage is looking at him with a strange combination of concern and confusion before his more customary grin masks any true emotion. Shisui nods once then continues, "Anyway, Ibiki managed to get a list of the man's known associates. I want you to go through it and try to find any more spies. We can't afford another attack. For the duration of this assignment, I'm removing you from regular duty." Shisui hands him the file folder. "Here's everything we know right now. If you have any questions, Itachi should be back soon. He'll be your point of contact for this assignment. And I'm sure this goes without saying, but I need your absolute discretion." Kakashi nods. He hasn't officially done any counter-terrorism stuff before, but he knows the general idea.

Even if Konoha didn't need to project the illusion of absolute strength and security to maintain client confidence, the last thing they want to do is tip off any enemy agents.

Shisui nods and says "Right then," as Kakashi leaves the room.

Kakashi waits until he's back in apartment before looking through the folder. It really doesn't have all that much. A picture of the perpetrator, eyewitness accounts from Itachi and two academy students and a brief report from Inoichi. As well as the list of known associates. While Kakashi seriously doubts the list will be very useful, it's somewhere to start. And considering the fact Ibiki and Inoichi managed to get it so quickly, maybe these would be spies are inept. Though if they are, that says very troubling things about the state of Konoha's security.

Deciding not to dwell on the pit of formless anxiety in his stomach at the thought of more spies destroying Konoha from the inside, of the weeks of senseless violence as the third ninja war drew to a close, at the— no, he wasn't going to think about it. Kakashi instead heads off to the central archive to try to track down whatever background information he can on the twenty or so people on his list. Because, true to form, he's only been given a list of names and in some cases not even both family and given name. Kakashi can only hope that Shisui had the forethought to assign a number of people to this task, as he has a feeling it will take quite some time before they even begin to locate any true operatives.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary** : Shisui makes a friend

Shisui has to bite back a laugh. He hasn't even been Hokage for six months and already the place is falling apart. How arrogant did he have to be to think he'd have the ability to keep the stupid village together by himself. A few weeks of training from the third, two advisors he can hardly look at without feeling twinges of guilt and Danzo, a man whose idea of a good plan involves more murder than Shisui feels is ever strictly necessary. Frankly, it's a wonder no one has actually died yet. Though, if Naruto hadn't been there, if Itachi hadn't been able to capture the infiltrator – Shisui doesn't want to think about what could have happened.

Instead he tries to force his thoughts into some vague approximation of order. Ibiki has their prisoner, though Shisui doubts they'll be able to get that much out of him. Kakashi can be trusted with hunting down any of his co-conspirators; however Shisui will probably have to assign some sort of backup once he has a better idea of what they're dealing with. The civilians will be looking for an explanation of what happened by tomorrow morning at the very latest and he'll have to come up with a suitable version of the truth for the clan heads. The academy and village gates will need increased security. Itachi will likely be too busy supporting Kakashi and placating the Uchiha to be of any real assistance, at least for the next few days. And Danzo, he's probably already worked out a list of people whose deaths will make the whole situation go away.

Despite the stress and adrenaline running through his body, Shisui finds himself grinning. This is more alive than he's felt in months, years if he's being honest. Nothing quite matches the exhilaration of matching wits against an opponent with impossibly high stakes. While he personally doubts the skill of this particular agent, the fact that he got in at all means Konoha is likely filled to the brink with spies and terrorists. One wrong move and he could take the entire village out with him.

Still, there's not much more than can be done today. With Itachi taking care of the academy student and possibly assisting Kakashi, there's no one to bounce ideas off of. Ibiki won't have a report on his interview with their captive until tomorrow morning at the earliest and Danzo made himself scarce shortly after Kakashi left, something Shisui can't really bring himself to care overmuch about.

Shisui blinks, realizing that that's pretty much the extent of the people he interacts with on a daily basis. The sun has long since set and the tower has slowly emptied to a skeleton staff. It's likely even that he's the only one still here on this floor. His ANBU guards have learned that it's most efficient to watch him from more of a distance. Between his distaste of being followed and the the fact that ANBU is not immune to the almost reverent awe most Konoha nin hold him in, it works out best for everyone. Homura, Koharu and Hiruzen all have offices on his floor as well, but with their rather advanced age, they tend not to stay at the tower any later than necessary. And considering he's missed dinner by a rather significant margin, the chances of any of the ubiquitous runners still being around is rather low. Anything else he wants to do tonight will have to be managed in person.

It takes Shisui less than an hour after heading back to his flat to realize sleep isn't going to happen tonight. His mind is just too full of things to write, to do and to say. As the shock and excitement from the attack begin to fade, his mind begins churning with possibilities. Inept as the infiltrator had been, he was an enemy operative, working with little fear of capture or repercussion within Konoha proper. While the brazenness of their enemy is somewhat humiliating, it could begin to solve a number of other problems. Especially if handled properly.

Konoha was founded as a military village. While civilians now outnumber ninja nearly three to one, it's never strayed that far from it's roots. And while Shisui's sovereignty has been… disputed by some of the more volatile clans, if spun properly, this attack would do wonders to unite the clans against a common enemy. First things first though. Since the attack happened in the civilian market and to the daughter of a moderately prominent civilian family, he'll need some sort of official explanation for them. Something with enough truth that they won't be upset when rumors start spreading from the clans, but innocuous enough to prevent any civil unrest. And vague enough that any other enemy agents don't start getting ideas. Shisui pauses in his pacing and bites his lip. This will need to be handled both very delicately and very soon.

So it is that Shisui finds himself back at the tower, out of uniform and only lightly armed. His guards maintain a respectful distance even without Itachi at his side, something he finds that he rather appreciates. The tower itself is mostly dark. Without many staff there's really no reason to light the whole thing. The guards are also more obvious in their watch, actively standing in front of the door to block access. They spring apart as soon as Shisui approaches, clammering over themselves to ask if he needs any assistance and to wish him a good night. Neither of them is much older than Itachi and both of their attempts to jump to attention are more enthusiastic than they are professional. Shisui releases them with a nod.

That's probably one of the first things they'll have to change in the coming days. Neither guard even attempted to verify his identity, determine his reason for entering the tower after hours or record that he'd even been there. And, even worse, if there had been trouble, their jounin instructor wasn't close enough to offer support of any kind. Night patrol was boring, but essential. With so many enemies, both within and without, they couldn't afford to delegate such tasks to new recruits.

Shaking his head, Shisui made a mental note to bring it up with the mission assignment desk tomorrow morning. Now he had a press release to draft.

Even before he made it up to his office, Shisui knew it was rather pointless. If Itachi hadn't been at their (Shisui's?) flat, he wasn't going to be in the office. Chances were he had decided to spend the night with his family. The girl he'd rescued was about Sasuke's age, and nothing made Itachi more reliably protective than any threat, real or imagined, to his brother.

No matter, Shisui was fairly certain he could draft the stupid thing by himself. He'd written most of his inauguration speech by himself. Itachi had still been in shock and rather prone to long fits of silence.

And this document should be far easier than that one had been. His inauguration speech had to win over the hearts and minds of the populace, this just needs to explain what happened to one academy student and why ANBU was involved. Despite what certain clan heads might say, Shisui is adored by his people. Civilian morale hasn't been higher since before the fourth died. And while Shisui knows he'll never be able to compete with a martyr as far as legacies go, he'd have to do a lot more than mangle a single press release to lose their faith in him.

Still, he can't come up with what words to use. Even after sitting in his chair and staring at the blank page for half an hour, nothing comes to him. He's used to bouncing ideas off of Itachi and talking his way through complex problems. It takes very little time for the novelty of a silent office to wear thin. It doesn't take much longer for him to seriously consider ordering his guards into the room so he at least has someone to look at while he tries to talk through his thoughts. And it's not that he doubts the intelligence or abilities of his guards that keeps him from just inviting them in, ANBU requires its operatives to boast a wide variety of skills. He just doesn't want to deal with the precedent such an action might set. It's taken months of pointed hints, orders and outright hiding to reach this current equilibrium with the Hokage guard. He doubts he could go through the entire ordeal again.

So instead, he wanders down to the second floor. The analyst division tends to always be staffed, regardless of the hour. Though considering the sheer amount of data they're responsible for processing, he supposes it isn't all that surprising. The bright glare of florescent lights burns enough he finds himself blinking to clear his vision. While nowhere near as crowded as it tended to be during the day, Shisui finds himself relaxing as the familiar hum of other people washes over him. The entire far wall is covered in state of the art computing and code breaking machines while the main floor is divided into sections by desks and small, flexible wall partitions. About ten to fifteen analysts are busy, carrying reports, conferring or hunched over desks. And, for a few minutes, he stands back and watches them work.

It's actually one of the analysts who acts first. A middle aged woman, she turns around and notices him standing by the door. Pausing only to deposit some papers onto another desk, she makes her way to Shisui with the no-nonsense attitude he'd always associated more with librarians than ninja. "Can I help you young man," she asks. She's actually fairly tall and despite Shisui's own height, has no trouble looking him in the eye. It's clear she's trying to get him to leave without resorting to blatant, verbal threats. Shisui pauses, trying to figure out what to say. He'd intended to come in, kidnap an analyst and force them to act as a sounding board while he figured out what to write. And while he wouldn't say he finds this woman particularly intimidating, he's _Shunshin no Shisui_ –feared across the continent, he does feel he might have to rethink his kidnapping plan. He also thinks it's somewhat amusing that he's apparently unrecognizable out of uniform. It's not like there are that many obviously Uchiha ninja wandering around the Hokage Tower all times of the night.

Still, after dealing with a constant barrage of adoration from the civilians and non-clan ninja and the almost open hostility of several of the more prominent clans, including his own, it's nice being just another face again. Shisui puts on his most charming smile and refuses to back down. "I was just wondering if there was anyone free for a bit. The Hokage needs something to give the civilians about the attack this afternoon and I was hoping I could snag someone to help me out." There, not even a lie.

The woman blinks at him owlishly, obviously suspicious. Shisui resists the urge to laugh, he's found people are far less likely to work do what he wants when they feel like he might be mocking them or laughing at their expense. After thinking for another moment she purses her lips and declares that all of the analysts are very busy. If they weren't, they'd be at home right now, instead of working. It's a valid point, Shisui has to admit, but he's not willing to give up yet. "I understand that ma'am," he says, trying to keep his tone respectful without sounding sarcastic. It's a lot harder than he's willing to admit. "But it really is quite important. The Hokage needs this to be done before the morning. I'm sure it won't take too long to draft it, and your division is the only one with the clearance to work on projects at this level and with staff still here and awake." He shrugs apologetically.

The woman heaves a sigh, clearly greatly put upon and nods her head once. She gestures curtly for one of the youngest analysts to come over. The girl is about fourteen years old, though probably fairly talented to have a full time job in analytics. She walks over somewhat hesitantly and Shisui wants to roll his eyes. He's really not that scary. The woman gives her a brief once over and tersely explains what's expected of her.

Shisui manages to keep himself from tapping his foot impatiently while he waits and then grabs the girl by the wrist, leading her back to his office. It's only when he's about halfway up the stairs that he realizes his ruse won't last if they actually go back to _his_ office. So at the last minute, he veers off, dragging his substitute Itachi to one of the numerous, currently unattended, joint offices within the tower.

It isn't until he's fully explained the situation that he finds out that the girl's actually an Uchiha, Izumi or something similar. She admits to having recognized him the moment he walked into the room. Still, she's smart enough not to make a big deal about it and promises to keep her mouth shut. And Shisui trusts her. She wouldn't have gotten to where she is if she couldn't keep a secret.

They spend all night writing, but by the end, he's actually fairly proud of it. Enough fluff to make people feel safe and enough facts that no one can complain that he's trying to cover anything up. Izumi isn't Itachi, but she's clearly a talented kid. And even better, she agrees to work with him next time if Itachi isn't available. While the rather cynical part of Shisui's mind knows this is likely an attempt to capitalize on his good will and help her climb through the ranks, she's impressed him enough he doesn't care. She's smart, has a knack for phrasing and posses the incredibly useful skill of making useless fluff sound like it's actually saying something. After they both take a nap, he'll see if she's up to helping him draft something for the clan meeting later that day.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary** : Naruto has fun at T&I

It's all Naruto can do not to run to the academy early this morning. He's so excited he gets out of bed and dressed before the sun is even up. He gets that an enemy ninja in Konoha is bad, like really bad, but yesterday, _he_ saved Sakura's life! Almost by himself. (Sure, Shisui-nii's kid cousin did the actual fighting, but he wouldn't have even come if Naruto hadn't been there to get him.) There's no way Sakura will ignore him now, he's a hero! Like, the ninja on TV. And even if school can be super lame sometimes, he's pretty sure today is going to be a good day.

Except only, it turns out not so much. Naruto doesn't even get all the way out of his building before his ANBU babysitter is there. Which is actually pretty weird. Normally they like to stay further away. Naruto rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, just like Kado-baachan. Except it's hard to look very intimidating when you have to look up almost a whole meter to even see the other person's face. Still, Naruto's feeling pretty upset and he's never been one to back down just because something's hard. The ANBU guy snorts and Naruto can tell he's laughing at him.

"Come 'ere kid," the ANBU guy says as he reaches down to grab Naruto by his shoulder. Naruto pulls himself up as tall as he can and tries to duck away, just like they were learning at the academy last month, but the ANBU agent is a lot faster than Iruka-sensei, and he grabs a lot harder too. "Ibiki wants to talk to you before school today."

Naruto isn't sure how he feels about being dragged around. On the one hand, they're heading toward the Hokage Tower, which—cool, means this Ibiki guy is probably really important. But on the other, Naruto doesn't really like people making decisions for him. And there is absolutely nothing _less badass_ than being picked up and carried, even by an ANBU agent. He's still trying to figure out whether this is one of the absolute coolest things to happen to him ever (not including yesterday, when he saved Sakura-chan or anytime Shisui-nii stops by to say hello), or one of the most humiliating, when they start going down a flight of stairs. Who knew Hokage Tower had a basement? That's definitely something he's gonna have to check out again. When he tries to leverage himself up so he can see more clearly around the ANBU guy, he finds his face forced against the guy's chest so not only can he not see what's happening, he also can't breathe very well and is stuck smelling the guy's man stink. Not cool.

As it turns out, Ibiki is absolutely the most terrifying person Naruto has ever met. Not even Kado-baachan has anything on the man. His mere presence is enough to make Naruto reconsider every prank he's ever pulled. And it is absolutely the coolest thing ever. Naruto grins. Ibiki is the type of ninja he wants to be when he grows up. Powerful enough to scare people just by looking at them. No one would ever ignore him if he was more like Ibiki-san. And that's before Naruto finds out that he's in charge of getting information for Konoha. He's like a spy master or something.

Neither Ibiki nor the ANBU guy are willing to say exactly what Ibiki does, but he's super-duper important. Like reports directly to Shisui-nii type important. Like is in charge of keeping Konoha safe type important. And not safe in the way everyone does, by just standing guard and shit. No, Ibiki-san is the real deal. He's like in charge of finding threats to Konoha before they happen. Or something like that.

He spends a really long time talking and after a while all the words start to go in one ear and out the other. It's worse than Iruka-sensei's lectures though, 'cause he's giving it in the secret basement of Hokage Tower where there are like a thousand ANBU agents just wandering around and so much top secret stuff that even if Naruto was interested in what Ibiki-san was saying he wouldn't have been able to pay attention. Ibiki-san talks a lot about "National Security" and regulation of information and everyone doing their part. While they talk, Ibiki-san leads them to a room, an office of some sort, and gestures Naruto towards a chair. Naruto, glad to finally have an excuse to distance himself from his lame bodyguard easily vaults into it.

Then, as soon as they're all seated, or hovering kinda awkwardly in the case of his ANBU guard, Ibiki starts talking—as if he'd never actually stopped. Naruto tries really hard to pay attention until he realizes that the glass of the generic picture frame behind Ibiki-san's desk is just reflective enough to be able to see what's happening in the hallway behind him. The office is one of those fancy ones with a window in the door, so even though it's closed, you can still see out. Everything looks really faint and kinda blurry, but Naruto is able to make out what looks like three people walking very slowly down the hallway. It takes him a minute to realize that the one in the middle has something over his head and is being more than half-dragged. Naruto wonders what he did and why he was here. Is there a super-secret ninja jail underneath the Hokage tower that nobody knows about? That would be SO COOL!

Naruto wonders if he can get Ibiki-san to show him the prison cells. Are the real life evil ninja as scary and silly looking as the ones on TV? And then Naruto remembers that he's actually seen a real-life bad ninja and that guy had looked pretty normal. If Sakura hadn't been so scared and if the guy hadn't been going on and on about how evil he was, Naruto might not have even realized he was bad. Naruto gulps, suddenly feeling nervous. He could be surrounded by bad guys and not even know it until they did something. Even Ibiki-san could be a bad guy. He looked scary enough, and really, Naruto just had his word that he worked for the Hokage. Naruto had never really seen him around.

Just as Naruto is wondering how likely he is to die if he makes a run for it now, Ibiki-san stops talking. The sudden silence jolts Naruto's attention back to him and Naruto tries to force his face to look cool and calm and collected, like all the good guys on TV. Ibiki-san just keeps looking at him and Naruto gathers that he's expected to say something. Without a clue as to what the question even was, he tries nodding knowingly and grinning, though even he can tell the smile probably looks more scared than cool. "Uh—thanks Ibiki-san," he says and then when neither of the adults move, "so, uh, can I go to school now?"

Ibiki-san stares at the ceiling like he's praying or something. "You didn't pay attention to a word I said, did you?" His voice sounds pretty even, but Naruto's dealt with Kado-baachan enough to know that saying the wrong thing would be very bad.

"I mean, I didn't not pay attention," he tries. When Ibiki-san's face gets more upset he continues, "but, like, you were using a lot of big words and stuff and this place is really distracting, ya'know? And then there were the ANBU guys dragging that other guy past the door—which, by the way, is there a ninja prison around here? 'Cause, like I would definitely listen to everything you said again if we could visit the ninja prison – but yeah…" he trails off, realizing that he was rambling.

Ibiki-san stares at him with an expression Naruto can't read, but is really familiar with. It's the same one Iruka-sensei uses half the time. After another minute, Naruto can tell Ibiki-san wants to say a lot of things, but is having trouble picking which one is the most important to say first. It's a feeling he's really familiar with. Finally, Ibiki-san says, "When did you look into the hall?"

Naruto shrugs and then gestures towards the picture with its shiny glass. He's actually really proud that he thought of it. Iruka-sensei is always telling them about "situational awareness" and "using your surrounds." Naruto hadn't really known what that meant at the time, but he's pretty sure using the picture like a mirror counts.

Ibiki-san smiles a little at that and stands up, walking over to him. "You're a smart kid, you know that?" He pats Naruto on the head, which is not cool at all, but the compliment kinda makes up for it. A little bit at least. "I guess what I was trying to say is that there are some really bad guys in Konoha right now, you know?"

Naruto nods, "Like the one I saved Sakura-chan from yesterday, right?" He likes it when adults talk about stuff he knows about.

Ibiki grins again, and the scar on his face stretches in the coolest way ever. "Yeah, exactly like him. Well, they're pretty upset at Konoha for a lot of reasons, most of them pretty silly. And they'll use anything they can to hurt us. That means that when they succeed-" Ibiki stops as soon as he notices Naruto's eyes glazing over again. He crouches down in front of Naruto's chair so their heads are even. "Hey, kid, this is important, so listen up. Okay?"

The sight of a guy as tall as Ibiki having to crouch down so low his butt is almost on the ground, just so he can talk to Naruto better is really funny. Naruto's hands fly to his mouth to try to force his giggle back in. he manages to nod at Ibiki-san though.

Ibiki-san shakes his head and starts over. "Alright kid, so it's like this. There are a lot of bad ninja who want to hurt us, like the one from yesterday. So to make sure that they can't we have to be really careful."

"Like with extra guards and shi-stuff?" Naruto asks, managing to keep the cuss word in at the last minute. Kado-baachan always gets super pissy when he cusses in front of adults, and Naruto really doesn't want to upset Ibiki-san any more than he already has.

Ibiki-san nods, "Guards help, but what helps most is not talking about secret things. And what happened to Sakura yesterday, that's one of those secret things."

Naruto perks up, secret things you can't talk about "You mean, like classified stuff!?"

Ibiki-san actually laughs a little at that, "Exactly," he says. "What happened to Sakura yesterday has been classified by the Hokage. Later today he'll make a public statement about what happened, but we need to make sure not to release any more details than he does. That way we don't accidentally give our enemies any extra information."

Naruto frowns. "But, everyone already knows Sakura-chan was attacked. And I saved her! Why can't I tell people about how cool I was? Why am I never allowed to talk about the awesome stuff that happens to me?" He knows he's whining, but it's not fair. Not fair at all! Today was going to be his chance to become more popular than even Sasuke is.

Ibiki sighs. "You can tell them a little bit of what you saw and what you did, after the Hokage's announcement. But if we let the bad guys know how close they came to hurting us, then they'll just try harder next time. And who knows, it might even work."

And then Naruto realizes what Ibiki-san is really saying. The bad ninja are like the bullies at school. If they see that they can hurt you or if they see they made you cry the do the same thing over and over again. Sometimes punching them back helps, but if there are a bunch of them, then you just get hurt more. Sometimes, the best way to get them to stop is by pretending what they're doing doesn't hurt at all. Sometimes all you can do is just ignore it and hope they give up before they hurt you so bad ANBU has to save you from them. And if there are people like that inside Konoha, who want to hurt Konoha… Naruto doesn't know exactly what it means or what they can do, but he does know that he has to do his part to keep Konoha safe. Konoha is his home and Sakura's too. And if he wants to be Hokage someday, he's going to have to everything he can to keep it safe.

Naruto looks Ibiki in the eye and says in his most serious voice, "I understand Ibiki-san. We can't let the bad guys see that we have weaknesses, even if that means hiding the cool stuff I did to keep Sakura safe. I promise I won't tell anyone about it, even if they ask. No matter what, I'll keep Konoha safe!" By the end he can tell he's almost crying, but he's a ninja (in training) and ninja don't have emotions. He manages to hold it all in. Even if it seems like all his dreams of finally having friends at school are falling down around him, at least there are some people who know what he did. Like Ibiki-san and Shisui-nii and Itachi-san and Sakura-chan.

Ibiki-san pats him on the head before standing up again. "You're a good kid," he says. "And a very bright one. If you want, before Fox takes you back up to the academy, I can show you one of the empty cells."

Naruto is jumping off the chair so fast he almost collides with Ibiki-san's hip. "Yes," he yells, pumping his fist in the air.

After they look at the cells, Ibiki-san shows him one of their interrogation rooms and introduces him to a few of the people he works with, including a guy with the exact same hair as Ino-chan. By the time they're done, school has already started and Naruto misses the first hour. Luckily, Ibiki-san gives him a note that says the Hokage had important business with him all morning. And even if he can't tell anyone about yesterday or any of the real details about today, he can tell them about all the cool stuff he saw with Ibiki-san. And while it's not nearly as cool as the other stuff, no one else knows that. And even cooler, the less Naruto can tell them about what he's done, the more they want to know.

All in all, it's one of the best days he's ever spent at school. Even some of the people in the next year up sit with him at lunch trying to get him to tell them about what the Hokage wanted with him. His secret keeps trying to slip out, but Naruto is a ninja (in training) and knows how to keep secrets. And all of the attention is a very welcome distraction. He doesn't know what he'll do once people finally realize that he really can't say anything else, but for now, he's happy to bask in their jealousy and attention.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary** : Sasuke gets some action too!

After school ends, Sasuke doesn't really bother running home. It's not like he has anything to do or anyone waiting for him to arrive. School is still easy enough that he can finish all the homework in class while Iruka-sensei is explaining stuff to Naruto and the other stupid kids for the hundredth time. And as for his parents… With Father spending so much time at the police station, Mother has pretty much taken over all the day to day stuff of running the clan. Itachi hasn't been home for more than a few hours since before Shisui-nii became Hokage, and if Shisui-nii has stopped by their home since his appointment, Sasuke hasn't seen it.

At first, Sasuke had thought things would get better, everyone would get used to Shisui-nii being the new Hokage and they could be happy that the third chose an Uchiha (the first Uchiha to ever be Hokage!) as his successor. But that hasn't happened. Instead Sasuke finds himself coming back to an empty home every day. Mother comes back in time to check on him and finish preparing dinner, but then she's gone. She tells Sasuke she's just catching up with her friends and doing grown up things. She says that since he's finally old enough to go to school, she doesn't have to worry about him as much. But whatever she's doing, she always, _always_ , makes sure to be back before Father gets home.

Sasuke kicks a small rock along the road as he walks, watching how the shadows of leaves make it look kind of spotted. Dappled, he thinks. He wonders what Itachi is doing right now. Does he ever feel lonely, living with just Shisui-nii? Does he miss Sasuke as much as Sasuke misses him? Sasuke's already eight years old, far too old to be so childish and dependent, but wandering home by himself, he doesn't force the thoughts away. There's no one to see him and no one who would even care one way or the other if they could. Despite being part of the best clan in the whole village, Sasuke spends most of his time alone.

By the time he gets close to the Uchiha compound, the sun is just beginning to set. He took the long way home, and, with autumn coming, the days are getting shorter and shorter. Suddenly, Sasuke decides he doesn't want to be seen by anyone. He veers sharply to the left, well out of view of the compound gate. At this time of day, the chances of anyone patrolling the walls themselves are pretty low. It takes him less than half a minute to shimmy up an overgrown tree. Its branches extend slightly over the wall into the Uchiha compound, and while Father has complained about it many times, no one has gotten around to cutting the thing in the year and a half that Sasuke has known about it.

Once he's at the correct height, Sasuke takes off his shoes to better balance on the comparatively thin branch. Then, without so much as a glance left or right, he carefully walks out, shoes grasped firmly in each hand. He's only done this a handful of times, but Sasuke's been training in balance, speed and precision since before he could walk. It takes less than five seconds to get across and slide down on the other side of the wall.

He lands on a rather unfortunately placed crate and scrapes his knee bloody, but it's been months since Mother last asked him about any of his various injuries. And after a few minutes, he knows it won't even sting that much. Still, he doesn't have the time or the materials to wash and bandage it here, so with a last irritated glance at the offending knee, he forces himself to focus on sneaking home.

Getting in is a lot easier than he had expected, Father left the window to his study unlocked. And  
while locks are kinda useless in a ninja village, it's still pretty odd that Father would just forget. Even if Mother and Father weren't acting strange, Sasuke is pretty sure he'd be able to tell that something _weird_ is happening. A few days ago, Iruka made an announcement about an "altercation between one a female academy student and an enemy agent." Apparently the encounter lasted about five minutes and due to the skill and vigilance of ANBU, the agent was captured before he could do any harm. And now, somehow Naruto has managed to become the center of attention almost the whole week. Sasuke has better things to do than keep up with whatever lame things are going on in the other boy's life, but even he heard that Naruto was apparently involved in some sort of covert _something_.

The chances of whatever Naruto's done being related to the enemy ninja aren't that high, especially since Naruto isn't a girl, but even so… Something is wrong in the village and the fact that no one, not even his parents, will tell him what it is terrifies him.

But until he's graduated, there's nothing he can really do. As far as his parents and the village are concerned, he's just an eight year old liability. Unlike Itachi, he doubts he'll be seen as anything more until he's a teenager at least. So Sasuke does the only thing he can do and tries to train. The faster he can improve, the sooner people will have to notice him for himself and not for being the Itachi's younger brother or the Uchiha clan "spare."

He manages to last almost a whole quarter hour before the heat and his own anxiety make practicing all but pointless. His mind keeps conjuring enemies hiding in the shadows and tries to link Naruto's weirdness and whatever happened with the enemy ninja to his own parents' hushed conversations and prolonged absences. It's a waste of time. And totally baseless fear, but he can't help himself. So instead of wasting more time outside, jumping at every noise, he heads back home.

Mother and Father are, thankfully, still out. After taking his shoes off and wandering around the house listlessly for a few minutes, Sasuke finally decides to go to Itachi's room. He's not hiding, it's just that even with Itachi gone, his room has always felt safe in a way nowhere else ever has. Sasuke brings his kanji study book with him, so he can at least be productive while he pathetically clings to his brother like some sort of needy child. Itachi's room is spotless. He was never the sort to collect much of anything. The little furniture there is is bare and all his possessions are either tucked away or in whatever place he's living with Shisui. His room isn't dusty either. Even with Mother out of the house most of the day, she still makes sure the entire place is spotless.

And so it is that Sasuke manages to pass several hours wedged between the thin wall and Itachi's chest of drawers, all but invisible from the doorway. It isn't until the sun is setting that Sasuke even realizes how much time has passed. Usually Mother and Father should be home by now. Usually they would be preparing dinner if not eating it. He hopes they come back soon, he's starving.

He carefully tiptoes out of Itachi's room, the Kanji book clutched in his hands and makes his way across the hall to his parents' room. He knocks once, quietly, on the door and when no one answers, opens it slowly. They aren't there. Then, just as he is turning around, he hears them at the front of the house.

"-re is Sasuke," his father asks.

"Likely out practicing still. Hurry, we have much to discuss before he gets home." His mother sounds more affectionate than he is used to and he suddenly feels guilty for leaving practice early. Sasuke is about to go greet them, when his father's response stops him.

"Hmm" his father replies gruffly, "He's a good kid. More diligent than his brother sometimes, more respectful too." If he's caught here, they'll both be disappointed. He'll probably get in trouble for eavesdropping too. Scanning the hallway quickly, Sasuke carefully edges his way over to the linen closet by his parent's room. It's small and full of the good linens Mother only uses for special occasions, but they'd never think to look for him there. With all the stealth he's mastered from living his whole life in a house full of ninja, Sasuke manages to slip in before his parents round the corner.

Not half a minute after he's managed to settle in, he hears their footsteps as they pass him and enter their room. He waits several minutes for them to find somewhere else to be, so he can get out, slip out a window and fake coming home. But they don't come out. Instead he can hear faint whispering as his father changes out of his uniform. Sasuke is going to be stuck in the closet for quite some time. Possibly all night. Suddenly he remembers his shoes. They're still by the door. Why didn't his parents notice them when they came home? They were right there. What's distracting his parents so much that they stay out until dark and don't even check to see if he's home?

When his parents start talking again, voices hushed and only partially audible, all those thoughts fly from his head.

"-ould we do? If the village is under attack, as Uchiha we are honor bound to defend it."

"And we will, as long as the Hokage is willing to do his part as well."

"You're suggesting we hold the village… hostage? That's treason. And if it falls we have nothing!"

"Think Fugaku, this is everything we've ever wanted. Shisui is a good boy, he'll see reason. This will just give him the excuse he needs to finally give us the status the clan deserves. It's ridiculous that those Hyuuga are more autonomous than we are. The Uchiha helped found this damn place."

His mother sounds far angrier than Sasuke has ever heard her before. But it's not the tone that scares him. His parents are talking treason. And against Shisui-nii? Unthinkable! He needs to get out of here. He needs to distract them. He-

His father is speaking again, his voice low and defeated. "Even if such a plan were to work, and it didn't lead to the deaths of the village or clan, I still fear we have our work cut out for us." He pauses for several moments, and Sasuke is just about to leave his hiding place when his father continues. "I'm worried about Itachi. As he is, he may be an even greater threat to our clan than anything else. You've seen how he follows Shisui around. I don't think he's in any state to make a fit clan head. His mind is too full of noble ideals and Senju brainwashing. He'll-"

Mother interrupts him then, "I'll hear no more on this tonight, you will not kill my son. He may have made some mistakes, but he's one of the most skilled Uchiha ever born-"

"I agree, and even if I didn't, his death would cause too many questions. We just need to remove him from the line of succession. You've seen how close he is to Shisui. He's unfit to lead and his loyalty to the village would make the whole clan little more than dogs. He just needs to be made to step down. I'm sure he more than half wants it anyway."

Mother is quiet for a moment before she says, "Let us wait and see. Itachi is still young and malleable. If he cannot be made to see reason… Then I suppose we will just need to start again with Sasuke. I've often said he would make a wonderful leader. He cares far less for the wellbeing of those outside the clan and is has enough talent and charisma to get by. But for now, let us give Itachi time. Tomorrow, we will give our answer to the Hokage and with any luck, soon all of this nonsense will be behind us"

They fall silent then and Sasuke waits another half an hour in terrified silence before silently slipping away. His hands shake even as he lets himself back into the house and yells "Hello." His parents were discussing treason, and worse, they were talking about hurting Itachi. Sasuke doesn't know who he can talk to about this. He doesn't have any real friends in his class and all the Uchiha around his age wouldn't believe him. He's not even sure if Itachi would believe him.

Itachi! He has to warn him! But, between school and his parents and the strict protocol for seeing the Hokage, he's not sure if he can. Or even if he should. Were Mother and Father right? Is Itachi the real threat?

He's so scared and worried and everything else, that it isn't until he's almost asleep that he realizes he never did get dinner.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes** : Sorry for the long wait. Life got very complicated. To make it up to anyone who is reading this, I'm publishing three chapters today.

The bar is rather subdued, as far as such places ever are, by the time Inoichi finally manages to finish taking report and clock out. Shikaku is draped half asleep across the booth and Chōza is working his way through more food than Inoichi even wants to consider eating. Still, seeing them relaxes him in a way that he's never been able to fully articulate. He's worked with them for so long that meeting up is almost like going home. Which isn't to say he doesn't love his daughter and wife with every fiber of his being, it's just that his team is… special. A different sort of family.

He doesn't register walking over. The past few weeks have been so busy that this is probably the first night he's actually managed to clock out before midnight. Between working with the new Hokage — the Uchiha — and Hatake, he's been pulling hundred hour weeks just trying to keep on top of everything. And that's on top of acting as Interim Director of Intel while Ibiki assists ANBU with some sort of highly classified joint Internal Affairs investigation into what the hell happened with the foreign agent and the civilian girl. Rumor has it Hatake's on a similar assignment, but, as has become the norm under this new Hokage, no one knows anything. And while such secrecy might be effective in keeping their enemies guessing, it's a pain in the ass trying to anticipate or organize his department when no one tells him anything.

Inoichi just sort of collapses into the seat next to Chōza, Shikaku, unsurprisingly, having opted not to make space. While it's a little tight, he's just grateful to be out of the tower.

"Our triumphant hero returns," Chōza says, wordlessly offering him the plate of grilled chicken sticks. "I've have to admit, I'd all but given up on you tonight."

Inoichi takes one of the skewers and grins, "That's fair, I almost didn't come," and it's true, the thought of just going home to Ino and his wife and falling in bed had been quite tempting. But it's been nearly three months since they'd last managed to schedule some time off together without children, wives or missions, and he couldn't pass up actually spending time together without the threat of imminent death or maiming.

And despite how long it's been since they were last together, they easily fall back into easy conversation. They talk about their children, their wives, the appalling state of the academy. Shikaku complains about how hard it is to deal with a job and a family despite the fact he's probably the most underutilized of the three of them. While he's been officially named Jonin Commander, the kid Hokage has been managing most of the mission assignments and reports himself, only leaning on Shikaku once he's been completely overwhelmed. With the state of Konoha's forces and their need to project their strength to the world, the fact Shikaku isn't on active duty is a fairly big oversight. Though, it's really a symptom of the greater organizational and communication issues the village has been experiencing.

Sitting down and talking is nice. It's a pleasant break from the chaos of being on duty. Eventually the dining room begins to empty and the staff politely suggest they should probably stop drinking and go home to their families. Shikaku is almost too drunk to stand and after watching the room spin a bit when he himself gets up, Inoichi realizes he's not much better off. Chōza has always been the best at handling his drink and he gamely steadies both of them, grabbing them by the arm to make sure they don't embarrass themselves too badly by tripping over their own feet or walking into something.

They wind up at Chōza's home, though Inoichi's not quite sure how they made it. The Akimichi residence is almost on the complete opposite side of the village from the bar. Still, it's nice sitting down. With Choji and Masako asleep, the main room is pleasantly dark and empty.

As soon as they're in the door, Shikaku drunkenly makes his way to the kitchen and liberates some more to drink. Despite his clear inebriation, he's actually pretty dexterous and manages to pour them each a glass without spilling.

In the relative privacy of the Akimichi home it doesn't take long for the conversation to drift to politics. Without having to worry about who will overhear them, and tongues considerably loosened by more alcohol than is wise, they begin to gripe about work, Konoha's tenuous relations with the other villages and some of the more inane policies of the new Hokage.

While perhaps one of the most directly affected by the newly heightening international tensions, Chōza actually has the least to say on the subject. He's spent far more time out of the village than in and has only spoken to the new Hokage a handful of times, most of them before he took the hat. Still, he's more than willing to act as an understanding audience.

Inoichi vents a little about the constant state of secrecy in the tower. "It's like operating in enemy territory," he exclaims a bit louder than he'd meant to.

Ever the voice of reason, Chōza points that with an unknown number of enemy operatives within the village, secrecy is probably the only thing keeping them all alive. And while it's a valid point, Inoichi is still frustrated.

"I had to pull a double shift yesterday," he says, "because all the work my team had done was declared 'useless'. It's impossible to do a thorough investigation when no one will tell you what it is you're looking for."

Shikaku shakes his head, "Yoshino keeps nagging me to do more around the house. It's such a drag."

Inoichi is fairly certain he'd be willing to kill someone if it would give him a few more hours of sleep each night. The idea of complaining about a lack of work is inconceivable.

Shikaku winds up pouring them each another few cups before they run out of things to gripe about. And, as he stares lifelessly at his knees, he voices his real concern, "Do you think the Uchiha, Shisui, _should_ be Hokage?"

Chōza answers first, "While he's a bit young, so was the Fourth when he was appointed. The kid is talented, very bright. He might be making a few mistakes here and there, but most of the problems with the village have their roots from before he took power. Not to mention, even Minato made a number of mistakes."

Inoichi is silent, thinking briefly on that night eight years ago, when Minato's wish for a child of his own blood almost wound up costing him the entire village. Did wind up costing his and Kushina's lives.

Shikaku shifts at the table slightly, "I don't think technical skill's quite what Inoichi's referring to," he says slowly, looking between the two of them, "is it?"

At that, Inoichi isn't quite sure what to say. He's not entirely sure how he feels about the new Hokage, and no matter what, Hiruzen did appoint the boy, the man. To suggest otherwise is practically treason. "No," he whispers, "it's not."

Chōza immediately looks wary. "What exactly," he presses, "are you suggesting then?"

Inoichi licks his lip, his eyes refusing to stay focused on any one thing. He's always considered himself loyal to the village and loyal to the Hokage. Before the Uchiha, he'd considered them the same thing. But now… "I mean," he says more confidently than he feels, "that the entire appointment happened quite quickly. Hiruzen had never seriously mentioned stepping down and then all of a sudden he did. Uchiha Shisui is a talented ninja, but not one who was ever considered on the shortlist, Tsunade or Jiraiya would probably have gotten it, if they'd been willing, or Kakashi if they weren't. Even Danzo was a more likely choice. And to have been appointed at the very height of the tensions between the Uchiha and village? Almost immediately afterward the Uchiha began cooperating again. It's just a bit… suspicious I think. Especially with how closely he works with the Uchiha heir. The two are inseparable."

Before Inoichi is even done talking, Chōza is looking around, as if to make sure no one else was listening in on them. Even Shikaku is more attentive, his gaze sharp and focused. Inoichi stops talking. He's not sure what to think. Even the suggestion that there might be something untoward going on with the Hokage is all but unthinkable. And even if there were, what could they do about it? What _should_ they do?

"That's preposterous!" Chōza is visibly agitated, his hands gripping his thighs with bruising force. "Hiruzen chose the Uchiha, he would never have picked him if he doubted his loyalty. He would never have picked him if the Uchiha had tried to coerce him into it. The very idea—t o even suggest such a thing—it's insane! I'll admit the whole thing was a little fast, but Hiruzen has been talking about stepping down for years now. If Minato hadn't—if the whole business with the masked man and the kyuubi hadn't happened—he'd, if he'd has his way, he'd never have taken back the hat."

Inoichi is far too drunk to be having a conversation like this, though as he's the one who brought it up, it may be a little late for that. He doubts any of them would have been willing to speak so freely without the alcohol. However, even with his mind as slow as it feels right now, something isn't adding up. The Hokage came out of retirement after Minato's death. He often complained about being old, but hadn't been actively looking for a successor. The Uchiha had been upset, some had even suggested they might revolt. Hiruzen had been in peace talks with them for months, but nothing was changing. Then, without any warning, he appointed one of their more talented ninja to be the next Hokage. Uchiha Shisui wasn't exactly unknown, but he wasn't one of the village ninja like Kakashi or Gai who had managed to achieve almost superstar status. He also wasn't the best the Uchiha had to offer. If anyone was going to be chosen to appease them, it would probably have been Uchiha Fugaku or their heir, the prodigy.

But what does it all mean? Chōza has clearly made up his mind to support their new Hokage no matter what. The Akimichi's have always been loyal to the village and Inoichi respects his judgement, but even so… He can't shake the feeling that this was all part of a bigger plan on the part of the Uchiha to finally wrest back control of the village. There's certainly no evidence for it, and more than anything, Inoichi wants to believe the best of people. But almost every interaction he's had with the new Hokage has been… off. He isn't sure what exactly it is, but Uchiha Shisui acts almost guilty. As if his every action is meant to atone for some past transgression.

"You're right," Shikaku's voice cuts through his thoughts. "The appointment process was irregular." His offhand tone makes the statement sound even more damning. Beside him, Chōza stiffens. "With the tension between Uchiha and village as bad as it was, of course it was a political move." He shrugs, "I'd give it about a 98% chance that the Uchiha were only a day or two from openly revolting, and with Danzo still leading his branch of ANBU, the village probably wasn't far behind, planning retaliatory action if not something more preemptive." Shikaku shrugs again. "Not that any of that really matters."

Inoichi gapes. Revolt? Village retaliation? How could that _not_ matter? "If Hiruzen was coerced into his appointment…" He trails off, not sure where he had been going.

Chōza shakes his head. "No," he says firmly, "you know Hiruzen, we've worked with him all our lives. He would never be forced into something like this, not by a single clan. If an Uchiha was appointed Hokage, it was because Hiruzen made the choice of his own free will. I trust his judgement, there is nothing he values more than the safety and security of the village."

And with that Chōza stands up, puts his cup by the sink and pointedly leaves the room, the matter finished to him.

Inoichi feels his shoulders droop in exhaustion. He glances over at Shikaku, who is staring absently at his own empty glass. "What do you think about all of this?"

Shikaku is silent for so long, Inoichi thinks he might have fallen asleep at the table, it wouldn't have been the first time. Finally, he sighs, " 's all so troublesome," he mutters, "but no matter what," and here he looks up, his expression sharp, "Hiruzen chose the kid. For whatever reason, he's decided the Uchiha has what it takes to lead, and, for all his faults, the kid has the potential to be great. He may have originally been just a piece in some larger game, but the kid's not anyone's puppet." Shikaku sighs again. "For what it's worth, I like him, he's got a tough job and he's made some mistakes. He's stubborn and doesn't like listening to others, but he's also bright, intuitive and has a way of motivating others I haven't seen since Minato. Not to mention, there isn't exactly a line forming to be the next Hokage." Shikaku looks back down at his hands, "No matter what happened behind the scenes, and despite the fact that I don't particularly trust the Uchiha, I do think Uchiha Shisui was good choice of successor, and both me and the Nara clan will support him."

And that's that. Despite his own misgivings, Inoichi nods. His teammates are right. Uchiha Shisui might not have been anyone's first pick for next Hokage, but he's not the last pick either and ultimately, he trusts Hiruzen. He swore loyalty to the village and the Hokage, and if Hiruzen believes the Uchiha is what's best for the village, then Inoichi does too.


	14. Chapter 14

The first time Danzo brings it up, Shisui isn't really paying much attention. He's too busy trying to sort through the tens of thousands of pages of information Hatake managed to dig up on almost everyone with anything approaching a security clearance within the village. Even when he'd asked for it, he'd known that it would be infeasible to the point of impracticality to investigate everyone, but what else could he do? Let enemy combatants invade _his_ village? Threaten _his_ people? That would be unthinkable. So he just nods to Danzo and continues trying to sort through everything. Eventually he gives up and has the data sent down to the analysts to try to make sense of. While they hadn't been cleared by Intel, yet, he's fairly certain he can trust enough of them to be useful. He marks the data as highly classified as he can and chooses people who have been with the department long enough that they aren't really operation security risks. Even so, he has Itachi look into their files for ties to any other village.

The second time Danzo mentions it, Shisui has just returned from a meet and great with a civilian school group. He's exhausted and far stickier than he's ever really been comfortable being. While children are great and all, and the future, their ability to make a mess out of everything around them is insane. Shisui agrees to consider whatever it is Danzo wants just to get the man to shut up. He has a pounding headache and doesn't want to spend the only half an hour of he has of unscheduled time today on whatever Danzo is worried about this time.

After that, Danzo lets it go, mercifully. Shisui is actually able to get a significant amount of work done. Intel, mostly the Yamanaka, finish their investigation of all active duty staff, Hatake, working with the Uchiha analyst, Izuna?, is able to make some progress wading through background checks and Shisui has actually managed at least four consecutive hours of sleep for nearly five days in a row.

Which is, of course, when Danzo comes back. "Have you given much thought to what we spoke of earlier?" Shisui doesn't bother turning around. If Danzo wants to stand behind him in some sort of pointless power play, Shisui doesn't care. It won't change anything and he's long since given up trying to follow all the convoluted paths of Danzo's mind. Reluctantly, he tries to remember what exactly Danzo is talking about this time, but finds he can't. Ever since they caught the one infiltrator, Danzo has been almost more present than his actual advisors. Something that would bother him more if Danzo wasn't also astonishingly insightful and far less insane than Shisui had initially thought. While he knows the man was dangerous, and knows how uncomfortable he makes Itachi, Shisui finds his council to valuable to dismiss out of hand. Is he power-hungry? Sure, but at least he tends to put the village first and doesn't spout all sorts of idealistic crap about how ninja should be above spying, stealing and assassinations. For all his flaws, and there are many, Shisui is beginning to appreciate having someone a little less naïve and a little more aware of the world outside the village to bounce ideas off.

Danzo, naturally, notices that Shisui's lost him almost immediately, though his only sign of frustration is a sharp, nasal exhale. "It is," he says slowly, "important that Konoha project the appearance of strength to the rest of the contentment." Shisui nods. Ever since he took power, they've had to deal with a marked increase in the other nations' attempts to undermine them. To undermine him. Apparently, having a supposed "God of Ninja" step down makes the entire village look weak, despite Shisui's own rather fearsome reputation abroad.

"And so we have made a point of continuing to accept large numbers of missions from foreign clients." Shisui nods again. That, he's all too familiar with. The Daimyo has been demanding far more highly ranked local missions for some of the most inane things, most likely in some sort of power play, though, Shisui isn't exactly sure what he hopes to get from it. The village is as loyal as it's ever been, but if they have to continue to put up with crap like this, he isn't sure how long that loyalty will last. So that, combined with the relatively low number of jounin they have and the need to keep taking high profile _external_ missions means there really isn't anyone left. He's been forced to send teams on back to back A-ranks, something that hasn't been done since the war ended. It's unsustainable. However, refusing the Daimyo is unthinkable and allowing the impression of weakness to spread? As soon as they show even a hint of faltering, the other great nations will destroy them. They'd lose missions and revenue and either slow starve from lack of funds or be picked off by anyone who wanted their bloodlines, techniques or just held a grudge from any of the wars. Really, what he needs to do, is talk to the Daimyo personally, but without any personal connections in the capital, even being the Hokage, it's been impossible to schedule anything.

"However, the most critical of those missions are ranked A or higher and thus only jounin can go on them." Shisui blinks, trying to regain the thread of the conversation.

"Yes," he says, "and we don't have enough jounin to go on them, not indefinitely. What is your point? There's not much we can do about that unless the Daimyo stops assigning so many pointless missions. Or we start sending chunin and genin on them and just hope he doesn't notice." Which, now the Shisui thinks about it would be an excellent idea, if he thought they could actually get away with it. So far, the Daimyo's requests had been more tedious than dangerous. Though, if the genin wound up failing the mission, that might be hard to explain. If they hadn't raised the graduation age after the war there'd have been tons of newly minted jounin by now. Probably. Granted, that was probably unethical and with the longer training periods they had now, the quality of each shinobi they produced was most likely better? Considering the fact that they now had fewer jounin per capita than at any other time since their founding, they had better be better at least 1.32 times better.

"If we have a shortage of jounin, that means that every jounin in the village is…" Danzo trails off in a way that clearly indicates he expects Shisui to finish his sentence.

Shisui's come to think of this habit of Danzo's as "teacher mode" and it's one of the most condescending and downright infuriating things about the old man. Still, he's willing enough to play along, if it means Danzo'll get to the point any faster. Shisui shrugs, "A wasted asset? A liability? Desperately needed in two places at once? What do you want me to say? Yes, we need more jounin out on missions, but we need them in the village as well. What happens next time someone attacks if anyone worth anything in a fight is off doing missions in Wind or Lightning?" Shisui can't keep his tone even by the end. This has been one of the daily struggles he's been facing since he took office. How do you balance the competing needs of the village proper, the needs of the Daimyo and yet still maintain village's presence in the world? While the jounin commander is invaluable resolving personnel conflicts and offering advice on how best to maximize some of the villages assets, those decisions still, ultimately, have to come from him.

Danzo places one of his hands on Shisui's shoulder in a move that had freaked him out the first few times it had happened, and still makes Itachi visibly tense, but that he's beginning to learn to live with. "I understand your frustration," the man says in an infuriatingly calm voice, "but you have not considered utilizing an untapped resource."

Shisui stands up and turns to face Danzo, deftly shaking the man's hand off his shoulder. "If you're proposing expanding your little ROOT program, the answer is and always will be no. There are enough children jounin." Well, enough of the freaky little robot jounin Danzo favors. Shisui's not sure how he feels about children jounin in general. It wasn't bad for him, and Hatake seems to have been fine, but he can't look at Itachi without thinking he's too young for… for any of this nonsense.

Danzo, for his part, is unphased, "Of course not, you've already made your position on that matter quite clear," he says placatingly. "I was merely referring to untapped assets we already have. There are a number of capable ninja within the village that, for various reasons have not been reassigned after completing their missions. Officially, they are not helping to defend Konoha or protect her interests abroad."

Shisui pauses. Who could Danzo be refer—Hatake maybe? The vast majority of the active investigation had been completed a few days ago, and Kakashi had been on leave since then. The rest will be up to the analysts and Intel.

But once Danzo starts talking again, he realizes it's much more than that. He means all of the officially active duty ninja who stopped taking mission to raise families, and those like Itachi, who was technically ANBU, but hadn't taken a mission out of the village since before the—since before. Or, well most of ANBU to be honest. With their duties protecting the village and dealing with a large amount of internal policing as well as protecting him, they tended only to go out of the village when it was critical the village not be tied in any way to their mission, success or failure.

It becomes clear that Danzo has given this a lot more thought than Shisui has. He has already drawn up a duty roster and filled in the names and identification numbers of nearly fifty additional jounin level mothers, fathers and others who all but stopped taking missions. Even the two loyal Sannin are there. And that's not counting the additional chunin level shinobi he's dug up. Simply by reactivating them, Konoha could complete nearly a third again as many missions. It makes quite a lot of sense but – Shisui hesitates. Something about breaking up families, bringing mothers back into active duty after, in some cases, almost two decades out of the service doesn't sit well with him. Tracking down those like Hatake who had completed missions and not been reassigned would help. Reassigning Hatake was going to happen anyway. And even Itachi, much as he hates to think of it, probably should go on some missions, but he refuses to force families apart. Especially when those ninja have all but resigned.

However, Shisui bites his lip, there are a lot of all but active duty ninja that haven't been considered. The police force has been complaining about lack of responsibility and jurisdiction issues with ANBU for ages and ANBU could easily help take some of the strain off the rest of the forces. He looks over at Danzo again, "The main reason we don't have all of ANBU running missions outside the village is because they're needed for Intel and basic policing of the ninja. If we have the military police take over most of ANBU's internal duties, excluding Intel, then we can transition ANBU into providing some defensive support, but primarily running missions." He grins, the military police is very capable. With Sharingan they might even be more capable of running the basic security of the village than ANBU was. The active sign of trust would help appease his family and, even if it didn't, freeing ANBU for fieldwork would be a huge boon.

Predictably, Danzo is immediately against the plan. Anything that compromises the security of the village or puts more trust on the Uchiha he tends to dislike. However, even he can't deny how underutilized ANBU currently is and how useful the police force _could_ be, if they could be trusted. While it certainly isn't a long term solution, and Shisui is sure Danzo will be assigning his little ROOT agents to watch the police from a distance, he considers it overall, a win. Now he just needs to actually get a meeting with the Daimyo or, failing that, just drop by sometime. He grins to himself; maybe he will invite himself into the man's study. It would certainly help remind him what exactly a ninja village was capable of.


	15. Chapter 15

Danzo sits silently on the stone of the Hokage mountain, looking past the village into the distance. There is much to contemplate. While the sun set hours ago, the stone beneath him still radiates warmth, though soon not even that will remain. At times, this seems a fitting comparison for Konoha. Under the might of Hashirama and Tobirama she was the unquestioned leader of the shinobi world, a beacon of warmth and power. None dared go against her. But now, as night fell, was she merely reflecting borrowed heat, like the sun warmed stones after dusk? Danzo has always prided himself on his unbiased world view and ability to accurately read events. He has never been a lackwit, jumping behind the leader _du jour_.

But, there is something different about Uchiha Shisui. The boy, though at this point perhaps he deserves to be called a young man, has a strength of will that Danzo is not used to. And, unlike previous village leaders, he is not unduly burdened by an overabundance of morals. The Uchiha, surprisingly enough, knows not all battles can be won. And he is practical enough to compromise for the greater good. While the boy—young man—is still overly attached to his birth family, Danzo doubts it will take more than one betrayal to sort him out.

For the first time since Danzo took up his role as advisor to the Hokage, he thinks he might have found someone with the ability to bring Konoha to its full potential. Night may have set on the shinobi world, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. After all, shinobi operate best at night. And for the first time, Konoha has a Hokage with the potential to fully embrace the essence of that title. A leader who truly embraces the shadows and the night.

Even still, he thinks, there are obstacles to overcome. Shisui, for all his potential still doesn't trust Danzo enough. While he is willing to listen and act on Danzo's suggestions, he is still not quite willing to fully commit. Nothing that Danzo can't work on over time, and even this opening is far more than Minato had ever given him. However, Danzo fears time might be running out. Even increasing their utilization of the military police and ANBU, they remain dangerously low on personnel. Between the war and the Kyuubi attack, they lost an entire generation. Now with back to back missions for most jonin it's a miracle they haven't lost more. Something that Danzo realizes is mostly thanks to Uchiha Shisui's insistence on personally handling all jonin assignments and his almost supernatural skill at accurately predicting exactly how much a given asset can take breaking.

But even with all this, it's only a matter of time. The other villages circle them like wolves. And while Hatake might have managed to weed out most of their agents from within the village, it would be the height of hubris to assume they had caught them all. And even beyond that… Danzo can sense there is something else moving. His informants are becoming cagey and he recently lost contact with the close to ten who had been observing the rebel force turned mercenary group Akatsuki.

If Konoha is to weather the coming storm, they will all need to be ready. And so, despite all his hope and the potential he sees in Shisui, Danzo is scared. If given time, Shisui has the potential to be the most powerful Hokage Konoha has ever seen, but Danzo knows that time is the last thing they have. And much as it pains him to think on it, Danzo must force Shisui's growth.

First among Shisui's weaknesses is his cousin. It isn't hard to trace his leniency towards the Uchiha to the boy. Uchiha Itachi has always been an interesting case. His ability as a ninja is unparalleled by any Danzo has ever met. His innate talent for death is only matched by a keen analytical mind on par with the Naara. In fact, it was these traits that first drew Danzo to the boy. But, as has quickly become clear, there is more to the boy than this. He has too much sway over the Hokage. If Danzo didn't know better, he would think Shisui trusted Itachi more than Shisui trusted himself. He can think of numerous instances when he and Shisui discussed a course of action, without Itachi present, only to have Shisui change his mind after the briefest time alone with the boy. Itachi, Danzo realizes, represents the single greatest threat to Shisui and thus to Konoha. And yet, there is nothing he can do about this.

The next day, Danzo still doesn't know how to proceed. He cannot move against Itachi without alienating and possibly destroying Shisui. For all that Itachi represents a very serious liability, he is also, for the moment, the emotional linchpin to Shisui's psyche. And, despite all his grand declarations the night before, there are many more pressing concerns for the village. Not the least of which being how to replace an entire generation of jonin in less than a decade. Between Hiruzen's softening of the academy curriculum and insistence on setting a minimum graduation age, they barely turned out eighteen genin a year. And that was if they were lucky enough to have three full teams of acceptably competent students per semester.

While their overall enrollment has actually increased since the end of the war, in no small part to civilians taking advantage of the free schooling, the chunin advancement rate has been plummeted. Every year the average skill of the first-year students continues to fall. Just looking at an academy practice session, it is easy to separate the chaff from the wheat. Although all classes share the practice yard, he finds it nearly impossible to tell a student's year from displayed competence alone. Bloodlines tend breed true and in his experience, pedigree seems to be a far better indication of likely skill than years before graduation. This is especially true of those classes practicing now he thinks as he watches a civilian third year fail to even hold her kunai correctly. Knowing the current curriculum, she was likely advanced on test scores alone.

The Hyuuga second year is a prime example of his point. While the boy still has several years before he will be old enough to graduate he already shows more promise than most civilian genin ever will. He already shows more spatial awareness than anyone else his age. In fact, the longer Danzo watches, the more he realizes the boy may eventually be on the same level of Itachi or Hatake. His technical skill and dedication are apparent even from this distance.

Absentmindedly, Danzo tries to search out Uchiha Itachi's younger brother. Sasuke. It takes him a few minutes to finally pin him down. Unlike most of his class of first years, he isn't even attempting to pay attention to the instructor. Instead, he and the Kyuubi host appear to be engaged in some sort of private argument. Danzo glances over at the instructor to see the man hasn't even noticed his students clear lack of attention. Danzo sighs, though he doesn't know if he is more upset by the failing school system or the absolute waste of potential that is Uchiha Sasuke. Fugaku and Itachi both coddle the child too much. Granted, if rumors hold true, Uchiha Itachi no longer has as much influence with the boy, unwelcome as he seems to be in his parents' home.

Looking back at the child, Danzo shakes his head. It truly is a shame how strong willed the Uchiha are. Their raw power is second only to the Senjuu and yet they refuse to work for the greater good of the village, too wrapped up in their own delusions of grandeur. They lack the temperament to truly become great. Take Uchiha Sasuke. The child easily has as much potential as his older brother. More in fact taking into account his raw chakra. Yet despite this, his lack of discipline or drive caused him to stagnate. Where Itachi excelled at every task put before him, Sasuke seems content to coast, more concerned with his classmates than with unlocking his true potential. For a moment Danzo wishes that the Uchiha had tried to rebel and had been put down as the threat they are, that he had managed to get sole custody of the boy. He doubts the child's obstinance would have lasted long. He could have turned the boy into something far greater than his brother could ever hope to be. But dwelling on such impossibilities is useless. And now, with Uchiha Shisui, well—he could hardly have wished for a better outcome. The young man is not him and has still has so much to learn, not to mention certain vulnerabilities to be patched, and yet he manages to combine talent, ruthlessness and charisma in a way that makes others want to help him. Danzo is mature enough to admit that, given the right guidance, Uchiha Shisui will make a better Hokage than even he himself could.

It isn't until late evening at Danzo has the time to check in on Shisui again. Between meetings with intelligence assets and working with ANBU to pave the way for Shisui's proposed pivot to external facing missions, he hasn't had the time to determine the specific actionable items necessary to transition the military police into the primary village defense force. No matter how simple the idea is on paper, it will represent a monumental shift in village policy and should not be initiated without thought.

Unfortunately, as luck would have it, Shisui is himself elsewhere when Danzo comes by. He arrives to find the Hokage office occupied only by the man's shadow. Uchiha Itachi regards him impassively, not bothering to hide the fact that he had been caught going through classified files on the Hokage's desk. While Danzo has long suspected Uchiha Itachi's role has been more active than Shisui always implies, this is the first time he has seen irrefutable proof. He regards the boy silently for several long minutes, half wondering if he will acknowledge him. Eventually, once it becomes clear that Shisui isn't likely to return any time soon and the boy is content to ignore him in favor of the files he's studying, Danzo decides to engage him.

He walks over silently, half-wondering if Uchiha Itachi is still ignoring him or if he really is so focused on the documents that he doesn't sense Danzo's presence. Gently, he places his hand on the boy's shoulder to get his attention. The boy is small. Danzo always manages to forget how very young Uchiha Itachi is. If not for the war, the child would likely have just managed to graduate from the academy. "Itachi," he says when the boy ignores his touch, failing even to tense as he normally would. The boy does not respond and so he removes his hand and steps around to the front of the desk so he is facing the boy directly.

"Captain," he tries again, "report." The boy continues to ignore him. Danzo wonders what has gotten into him. The boy never liked him, but he has never been so overtly disrespectful either. Perhaps Uchiha Shisui has been trying to encourage independence? Danzo wishes Shisui would understand that leaders cannot afford friends. His ninja were tools and should be treated as such. They were assets to be used and discarded as needed. It was critical they understand their place or the whole of society would crumble. One could not afford to befriend a kunai any more than they could a ninja. Separating the two Uchiha would be beneficial for both of them.

Realizing that in this mood, no amount of orders will work, he says in a pleasant voice, "I saw Sasuke at the academy today." The boy's shoulders tense, but he gives no more indication that he heard Danzo's words. "He looked to be doing about as well as one might expect stuck in the academy." The boy is trying so hard not to appear interested. Danzo wonders how long it has been since he last saw his brother. Several weeks most likely. He has heard from multiple sources that the boy avoids his childhood home and even most of the Uchiha district as much as he can. "However," he continues, "with the right training his potential may even outshine your own, Itachi."

"Don't you dare touch him." Itachi's voice is quiet, but the level of killing intent is more than Danzo had expected, even knowing how protective he is of the boy. His eyes are spinning red as they stare at Danzo, and he cannot help but smile.

"I hear your parents have been very busy plotting treason. Is that true, child?" Itachi glares at him defiantly, but he isn't quite willing to push Danzo further.

"Leave my brother out of this," he says by way of answer. And isn't that unhelpful. Danzo should have predicted that even implied threats to Sasuke would make Itachi annoyingly willful.

"What are the Uchiha planning," Danzo says again, his tone cold. "I know your mother speaks of treason to any with a willing ear within the compound. How much of your clan follows her words?"

Itachi stares him in the eyes for another few moments before looking down, defeated. "I haven't been on speaking terms with my mother for some time now. She has made it very clear that neither I nor the Hokage are welcome within the compound." He hesitates slightly before continuing, "I have been avoiding them and their power plays."

Danzo nods slowly. "I see. That is just as well," he says, "I've heard that Uchiha Mikoto has considered having you removed if you interfere with her plans." Itachi tenses at that and Danzo realizes the boy must care more for his family than he had thought.

"She would never do that," Itachi says, though even Danzo can hear the lack of conviction in the boy's voice.

Not that it truly matters either way. In fact, if the Uchiha matriarch were to act so rashly, it would only tie up a number of troublesome loose ends. With Itachi out of the way and the Uchiha showing their inherent untrustworthiness, he doubted even Uchiha Shisui's loyalty to his family would be enough to save them.

"What did you want, sir," the boy asks, all signs of resistance hidden beneath a mask of impassivity. Danzo wonders if the child is still loyal enough to kill his family if ordered or if he would go behind Danzo's back to Shisui.

Even so, while Uchiha Itachi wasn't who he had initially wanted, he could still prove useful. As a clan child, and the Uchiha heir no less, he had access not even Danzo was privy to. "I need intel on the Hyuuga. My sources tell me there is unrest within—" he stop when he notices Itachi's mouth twitch. The insolence the boy manages to convey with barely a movement would be impressive if it wasn't so frustrating. "—there is an unusual amount of unrest between the branches."

The boy remains silent for several moments after Danzo stops talking before looking into the distance behind Danzo's shoulder and asking, "What do you want from me, sir?"

"Propose to their spare, the second born child. I need someone inside the clan to report back on their actions." They will, of course, know he is a spy, likely before the first meeting. At this point, marriage proposals between clans are equal parts politics and espionage.

"They will not confide in me," the boy says, though Danzo suspected the shock in his voice had more to do with the youth of the girl than concerns for the mission's difficulty.

"Do they need to for you to do your job, agent?"

Itachi stares at him in disbelief. "We are talking about the Hyuuga. Not even Sharingan can overcome the Byakugan. If they do not wish something to be known, not even I will know it."

"Then talk to the children. You of all people should understand that they see more than most."

Itachi meets his eyes. "You would have me interrogate children? Does the Hokage know of your plan?"

Danzo shrugs again. He never told the boy to interrogate them, though if that was how he wanted to get the information, Danzo didn't truly see any reason it wouldn't work, as long as he was neat about it and cleaned up his messes. "How you choose to go about obtaining the information is up to you. As long as—"

Itachi shakes his head. "No. I will not do this. Not without written orders from the Hokage. _You_ do not have the authority to order this. There are agents better suited to this mission. Hyuuga agents who would not have any trouble reporting to you, if the Hokage ordered it."

Danzo manages to control his anger. How dare the boy refuse him. While ANBU technically reported directly to the Hokage, Danzo has long stood as the group's unofficial commander. Uchiha Itachi has long been overly concerned with morality, but he has never before let it get in the way of completing a mission. For a moment, Danzo even wishes the child was more like Shisui, able to accept that the greater good requires sacrifice from time to time. But no, he realizes. The Uchiha prodigies, while similar in some respects, operate on two entirely different levels. Uchiha Shisui is a leader of men, able to take on the sins necessary to keep the village safe. Uchiha Itachi is a soldier, destined to live and die in the service of the village, useful not for what he thinks but for what he can do when properly wielded.

Deciding that there is no point in further argument, Danzo leaves the office. He has more important plans to set in motion. He thinks he might have found a way to solve two of the villages problems at once. Quickly, he walks back to his office and pens a careful missive. Then, as the messenger wings its way to the capital, Danzo smiles.


	16. Chapter 16

Sneaking into the Hokage tower didn't used to be this hard. Before, Naruto just climbed up the outside wall until he got to the Hokage's window. This time though, it's a lot harder. Like, _a_ _lot a lot_ harder. Every time he tries to go up, ANBU pop out of nowhere and tell him to stop. They never used to notice him when the old man was in charge. He's pretty sure the change is in them though, not him 'cuz it would kinda suck if it turned out all that studying he's been doing at the academy is actually making him suck more as a ninja. Though if you listened to Sasuke, that bastard, it would be pretty much impossible to suck more than Naruto did.

He's almost ready to give up and just try to sneak up through the inside when he thinks of a brilliant plan, probably the best idea he's had all week. Lots of ANBU climbed the walls 'n stuff all the time. If he can disguise himself as one of them, then they probably won't stop him when he tries to get in. Naruto can't believe he's never thought of such a brilliant plan before It just makes so much sense, and it's so easy. They even wear masks all the time so they won't be able to tell he's not one of them!

Punching the air, Naruto runs back to his apartment to get some supplies. He doesn't have anything super dark like ANBU wear, but there's a lady who always hangs her clothes outside in the mornings who has a son kinda his size. It shouldn't be hard to borrow something black-ish. The armor is going to be a little harder, but Naruto's pretty good with paint and it's never that hard to find cardboard.

About thirty minutes later, he's ready to go. While his armor is still a little wet (and he's got green paint on his face and hair from the toad mask he'd made), it shouldn't really get in the way. After all, if they get close enough to touch him, he'll probably already be caught anyway.

This time he manages to get almost to the Hokage's window before he's stopped. The bug faced ANBU who'd been such a pain before is gone. Instead it's the Hokage's little cousin or whatever.

"Toad," the other boy says in a kinda dickish voice, "I don't recognize your mask, what squad are you from?"

Naruto wants to glare at him, but he's too busy trying not to cheer that his disguise worked and trying not to lose his grip on the window sill. The ANBU is just crouched on the wall, his feet sticking to it like it was the ground or something.

The ANBU, who really isn't much bigger than Naruto, and probably isn't _that_ much older anyway tilts his head to the side like he's inspecting him, but doesn't do anything else, happy to watch Naruto struggle for his life while he waits for an answer to his question.

Naruto's mind blanks. What squad is his on? What squads are there? Suddenly, he blurts out "Alpha Squad sir, under command of Dragon Fang." Apparently all those hours of TV are paying off. And who said watching The Adventures of Dragon Fang and Bolt were a waste of time now?

The other boy doesn't say anything for a moment. Just sorta stares at Naruto. Then, suddenly he nods. "Alpha Squad," he says his voice having become even more flat than before. "It's rare we see anyone of your caliber here. Was there something you needed?"

Naruto isn't sure how to respond at first, but goes with, "I have urgent news to report to the Hokage. Our outpost was overrun by Giant Mushroom Toads and we need backup!" Naruto thinks for a moment and then adds "Also I might need a hand up. My hands are slipping."

The ANBU doesn't respond for a minute, and Naruto is afraid the whole thing is lost because he's almost positive he sees the guy's shoulders shake like he's laughing, but when he speaks again, his voice is just as dead as always. "Of course Toad. That is most dire news." He gives Naruto a hand up and both of them are standing in the Hokage's empty office. Naruto is looking around when he catches the ANBU's hand suddenly go to his ear piece.

"This is Crow," he says, suddenly all business. ANBU must have some pretty amazing radios though, because Naruto can't hear whatever the other person is saying, and he's like, right next to the ANBU… Crow. "There's an someone in the tower disguised as an ANBU operative?" Crow sounds almost concerned. "Oh no! Impersonating a member of ANBU is a very serious crime. Once we catch the culprit they could be in prison for a whole month!... Okay… of course. I will sir."

Naruto goes cold. How can they know he's here already? Suddenly this whole thing doesn't seem like nearly as good of an idea. Especially since everything he's wearing is just cardboard. While he managed to trick Crow, he's not so sure the rest of the tower would be su gullible.

Crow turns to look at him, "I'm sorry that I won't be able to assist you further, Toad. But I'm afraid someone has infiltrated the tower disguised as ANBU. Maybe you should try reporting when things have calmed down some. I can walk you out, if you would like."

Naruto thinks. On the one hand, the more time he spends with Crow the more likely Crow is to discover who he is. But chances are, if Crow was going to notice he already would have. And if he's next to Crow fewer people are going to pay attention to him. ANBU always do stuff in groups, right?

As they walk down, out of the tower, Naruto can't help but notice how much room people give Crow. No one bumps into him or asks him what he's doing there. And while he's definitely a little taller, it's not that big of a difference. At least not compared to an adult. Naruto actually almost comes up to his chin. Next time, Naruto thinks, he should disguise himself as Crow. He bets even Shisui-ni would be impressed by that.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes:** The plot is back on track. This thing should be about 40 chapters, give or take, by the end. And thank you very much for all the comments. All of you are amazing.

Governing is hard. Shisui knows this to be true in every fiber of his being. Listening to adult genin whine to him about petty infractions is trying. Balancing the needs of the civilians and the ninja is challenging. Not yelling at Fugaku or any of the other clan heads when they refuse to remove their heads from their own asses is almost impossible. But all of that pales in comparison to trying properly respond to _this,_ in what is turning out to be an awful end to a trying morning.

The ANBU commander barges into his office restraining a clearly indignant, handcuffed, Naruto. They stop immediately in front of his desk, disregarding the clan heads who have frozen on their way out. It never ceases to amaze him how grown men can so closely resemble teenagers, drawn to drama and intrigue like moths are to a flame.

Naruto is wearing an ANBU uniform that is clearly too big for him. It looks like it would be loose on Hatake Kakashi, and on Naruto is comically oversized. He also has a stolen cat mask tied to his face, though it's large enough that he has had to align it with only one eye, so it's off center. He also has green paint in his hair and scuff marks over everything. Shisui tries to keep his face impassive as he looks over at the ANBU commander for an explanation.

"Sir, we caught him impersonating an ANBU operative and attempting to sneak into the tower. He said he was on a mission for Crow." Shisui nods and wonders what he's going to do. On the one had, Naruto should know better than to try something this stupid, but on the other, it's Naruto. Shisui is fairly certain the kid didn't intend anything nefarious. However, there is no true legal distinction between impersonating ANBU and children being morons. And with an audience of some of the most connected men - and women - in Konoha, however he decides to deal with this will be common knowledge by the end of lunch.

Impersonating any village official is illegal, and sentences vary from a small fine to execution based on the severity of the offense. Killing the nine-tails' host is clearly off the table, though the boy does need to be made aware that he's crossed a line. And as all his income is from village welfare, fines are fairly pointless as well. That doesn't leave Shisui many options from a legal precedence point of view. While the third was content to give Naruto countless warnings, the third was also almost universally loved by the everyone within Konoha and feared by everyone without. No one would dare second guess his decisions. People accepting Shisui without much complaint is actually a fairly good example of that. So what does that leave? Since the boy is enrolled in the academy, he's in a rather gray legal area. Not technically an adult, but clearly subject to martial law instead of civilian court.

Shisui looks Naruto over again before letting his gaze settle on the Commander. "Where did you find him?"

The man readjusts his grip on Naruto preventing him from making a dash for the window, though what he was planning on doing once he got to it was anyones guess. He didn't have the training to walk on walls yet and the drop would be very painful if not deadly. "Panther picked him up outside her residence, attempting to steal a chest plate." Technically, Panther shouldn't have had any gear at her apartment, though few agents adhered to that regulation. Since their identities were meant to be a secret, and dwellings tended not to be overly secure, all ANBU personnel theoretically kept their uniforms and weapons in lockers within headquarters.

Shisui lets out a breath he he hadn't even noticed he'd been holding and nods. The kid hadn't tried to infiltrate the tower or impersonate anyone from ANBU. That makes this all much easier to deal with. While attempted theft is bad, especially in a military run village, punishments aren't nearly as severe and minimum sentencing doesn't exist.

After a moment of thought, Shisui looks back at Naruto. "Since you seem to have a great fascination for uniforms, you will be assisting Ayako-san with laundry every day after school for the next," Shisui pauses, thinking, "six weeks."

Naruto glares at him defiantly and a little bit resentfully. Not that there's really anything Shisui would do even if he could. As much as he likes the kid, letting him constantly get his way will only spoil him. He'll need to learn the importance of the village hierarchy sooner or later. And with that, Shisui waves a curt dismissal, waiting until all the clan heads have left before collapsing back against the stupid Hokage chair.

"That was not badly done," Itachi says quietly from the behind his shoulder. "However, Uzumaki-kun will attempt to break in again, if you do not intercede. He," Itachi pauses for a moment, "misses you. I believe he is lonely at school. I had the opportunity to speak to earlier this week and he expressed a very strong desire to seek you out." Of course he did. Because this is his life, and there's no way Shisui can have even a moment of free time.

"I suppose I should probably do something about that, then," he says quietly, turning around to face Itachi. "How's lunch with the kid sound?"

Itachi is silent for almost a minute before saying "I believe you have a lunch appointment with my father." Damn. He'd forgotten about that. Itachi's tone is impassive, and his mask blocks his face, but Shisui can tell he's concerned. Between meetings with clan heads and listening to Danzo's concerns, Shisui hasn't been sleeping enough and it's beginning to impact his memory and focus. Shit. Just what he needs.

"Tomorrow then," he says with forced cheer and is gratified to see Itachi nod slightly. The two of them need a break and while lunch will probably only be an hour, it'll be a very welcom mental reprieve. Tomorrow. Today he's got about twenty minutes to mentally prepare for what should be a fairly easy meeting to inform the Uchiha patriarch that the village is willing to expand his jurisdiction to cover most village based missions. Though knowing how uptight Fugaku is, this will probably just amount to several hours of listening to ancient slights and grievances over which Shisui has no control.

"That sounds," Itachi stumbles a little over his word choice before settling on "fun." In the past Shisui would have teased him for it. His baby cousin never did understand the concept of fun or the point of social interactions for their own sake. Except where Sasuke was concerned. Sometimes Shisui feels jealous of Sasuke, but he can usually push that aside. After all, while Itachi is still trying to bridge the gap between family and village, he lives with Shisui, spends every day with Shisui and when push comes to shove, he will choose shisui over the rest of his family. Shisui will make sure of it.

The lunch meeting actually goes surprisingly well. Shisui had spent a long time talking over the presentation with Itachi, and while he personally felt some of the rhetoric was over the top, Fugaku ate it up.

"Thank you for meeting with me today, Fugaku-san. I've been meaning to talk to you about this for some time. I believe the military police are woefully underutilized. And I understand that this is my fault. Mine and every hokage before me. The police existed before ANBU and yet so much of their jurisdiction has been eaten away. I believe now is the time to reverse that. I have spoken with my advisors and no one was able to give me any reason for this theft of position, power and responsibility beyond fear of granting the Uchiha more influence in the village we helped found. With your approval, I would like to see the Uchiha take their rightful place as village founders. I have here, a new charter that would grant the military police jurisdiction in pursuing all internal law enforcement activities as well as expanding their role in patrolling the village walls and allowing the department to take official village missions on an as needed overflow basis. ANBU would no longer have any jurisdiction within the village without a direct decree by the Hokage or a request for assistance from the commander of the military police."

Even before Shisui finishes talking, Fugaku is smiling. Itachi had been right. Phrasing it as a return of rightful power instead of a simple expansion of jurisdiction had been the way to go. While he is fairly certain he could have tried to bargain for some sort of concessions from the Uchiha in return for this, it's just as likely that Fugaku would have been able to flip the negotiation around. And no matter what, Konoha needed the Uchiha to agree to this.

Before the meal is even over, Fugaku has signed the paperwork. By the end of the day, they have already finalized the details of the transition. Over the next three weeks, Fugaku and several of his senior staff will work closely with a transition team to be appointed by Shisui, Danzo and Fox, the current ANBU commander.

While he knows it's too early to even tell if this insane plan will even pan out, he can't help but feel optimistic. For the first time since he took - stole - the damn hat, he honestly believes there's a chance this might all work out. Fugaku was actually willing to work with him, and they've already scheduled a follow up meeting to discuss the timeline for the transition as well as what quantity of missions and at what pay rate the police could expect from the mission office. Shisui honestly doubts even the Uchiha will have the manpower to preserve order, guard the village and run jounin level missions, but he's willing to give them a chance.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes:** Happy Holidays! Thank you to everyone who has favorited/reviewed/followed. You guys mean the world to me. I've been thinking about doing an interlude chapter with various people's points of view now that we're about a year into Shisui's reign as Hokage. If there's anyone or anything you're particularly curious about, let me know and I'll see about including it.

When the new school year starts, it doesn't surprise Sasuke that no one is there to walk him to class on the first day. He's a second year now, and too old for that anyway. He knows his father is busy now that the clan is in charge of protecting all of Konoha and his mother tends not to be home that much. And Itachi - Itachi is busy too. If he'd reminded Itachi that school was starting again, he would have been here. He would have found a way, no matter what. The fact that he isn't is Sasuke's fault. Not that he needs his brother, or anyone. He's just a few years away from graduating and becoming a full adult.

By the time he gets to the school, there is is a crowd of parents hugging their children goodbye. Sasuke tries not to look at them as he shoves his way past and into the building. Uchiha are strong. They understand that some things are more important than any one person. After all, a ninja feels no emotion.

The classroom looks pretty much the same as last year's and he takes a seat in the back of the room. The pink haired civilian girl, Sakura, is sitting in the front, but other than that, the room is mercifully empty, so Sasuke puts his head down and rests his eyes.

He's sick of pretending to be perfect, of pretending that he doesn't hear the vicious things people are saying about his family and his father. He knows they are just afraid of change and of the power of the Uchiha, but that doesn't make it any easier to listen to.

Sometimes - _all the time_ \- he wishes he wasn't part of a clan. He wishes his family was normal, that his parents were typical jounin and his brother was just an ordinary ninja, not a genius or prodigy or chosen savior of the world or whatever. Then no one would stare at him as if he was some sort of bug. No one would yell at him that it was _his_ fault that their father was locked up, that it was _his_ fault they couldn't afford food, that it was _his_ fault their lives were ruined. That way, he would have a brother who would spend time with him every day after school. Someone to show him shuriken tricks and who would help him with his homework. And both of them could complain about homework or curfew or any of the things other kids complained about. Sometimes - _all the time_ \- he wishes he could be normal.

By the time the rest of his classmates start coming in, he has recovered. He sits in his seat with perfect posture, a model student. He doesn't let the whispers of his civilian born classmates bother him.

 _Why would the Hokage trust the Uchiha to defend the village?_

 _Did you hear, the Uchiha took over ANBU?_

 _Who thought it was a good idea to trust the Uchiha? I heard they were all power hungry snakes!_

Uchiha are strong. They don't care about the opinions of others. His family has given up more for this village than all of theirs combined. They are a clan of ninja, trained from birth to carry out the Hokage's orders, no matter what. And that small voice in the back of his head, the one that whispers that people might be right not to trust the Uchiha? That there might be some truth to those rumors of betrayal? He shoves it into a box in his mind and buries it as deep as he can. He knows his parents, they love the village more than anything. And nothing, _nothing_ , would ever make them consider endangering the welfare of the village. Nothing.

So he sits tall and proud, ignoring the whispers and the stares of his civilian classmates. He is above their petty squabbling and baseless gossip. He is above _them_. And when all of them have been weeded out of the program, as all civilians eventually are, he will remain. Tall, proud, superior.

The first day of class is as slow this year as it was last. There are a few older students who failed second year last time around and are now in with them to try again, but overall the class is the same. A few kids, all civilian, dropped out although, disappoingly, Naruto isn't one of them. Their instructor is still Iruka-sensei and he is still assisted by Mizuki-sensei. They don't learn anything new the entire day. In fact, the whole first week will be devoted to review to make sure no one forgot anything over the break.

It's painfully boring and made even worse by how enthusiastic that civilian girl his brother had saved last year, Sakura, is to answer every question. Her voice grates on his nerves. It's almost as bad as her shallow attempts at friendship. She isn't exactly subtle and hasn't made it a secret that she's only interested in him as a way to get to his brother.

He wonders if Itachi even remembers her. It would almost be worth taking her to him just to see her face when he looked at her with blank politeness, unable to even recall if they'd met. Not that it would ever happen like that. His brother never forgets anything. _Except for your first day of school, the traitorous voice in his head whispers._ But that's different. Itachi never forgets a _mission_ , and that's all the girl was to him. A mission. If things weren't so busy with Shisui, and the Hokage, Sasuke knows that Itachi would have come. He would have.

By the time school is over, Sasuke is ready to pull his hair out. His _real_ classmates aren't really any worse than normal. In fact, they're unusually supportive, going out of their way to tell the useless civie kids to shut up and making a point of showing their support of him. Some of them actually try to include him at lunch, laughable as the thought of an Uchiha ever willingly eating next to a Hyuuga actually is. Sasuke doesn't take the girl up on her offer, but does wind up eating near her anyway. There's no way he's sitting next to the Naruto or the civilian kids and as second years, they aren't allowed out of the classroom to eat, so there's not really anywhere else to go.

He stays after for a few hours to practice his shuriken form, but even that can't hold his attention for that long. Since it's just the first day there's no homework to do and he already knows there won't be anyone home for a while. So instead, he decides to head to the police station. His father isn't in when he gets there, but Tekka-san lets him into his father's office anyway.

The office is a lot smaller than he remembers. The last time he was here, mother had to pick him up so he could see over the desk. Now it looks like any other desk. Neater than most, but no larger or more grand. The surface is empty except for a framed picture of the four of them and a pen holder. Sasuke picks up the picture. The frame is simple, but shows signs of wear around the edges. Like the rest of the room, there's no dust anywhere, even under the glass. Sasuke smiles a little at the image, their father has a hand on Itachi's shoulder and the other around mother. He's standing in front of the camera smiling like a moron while Itachi looks like father's hand is the only thing keeping there. Carefully, Sasuke places the picture back on the desk and continues to snoop around.

All the filing cabinets and desk drawers are locked, so he finds himself looking at the small bookshelf against the far wall. It's full of thick tomes on criminal justice and law. However, half hidden on one of the lower shelves is the wooden cat Itachi had given father after one of his missions and right next to it is a small clay tablet Sasuke had made him when he was first learning how to write. It's strange seeing this side of father. Sasuke hadn't realized he'd bothered keeping any of that sort of stuff. Mother has one box of keepsakes from their childhood in a closet, but anything that doesn't fit gets thrown away.

As the sun begins to set, Sasuke realizes that it could still be hours before father comes back. With the additional police duties, neither of his parents are home before he goes to bed. Sasuke sighs, and wishes there was someone he could talk to. In that moment, he misses Itachi more fiercely than he ever has before. And, without stopping to think about it, slips out of his father's office.

The police records room is guarded by Inabi-san today. Sasuke knows that he isn't strong enough to fight Inabi, and while he's getting better at chakra control, there's no way he could cast a genjutsu, let alone one that could subdue a sharingan bearer. However, he has the element of surprise, and most of the village recognizes him on sight.

"Inabi-san," he asks quietly, trying to keep the nerves out of his voice. The other ninja looks up from his book for a second before noticing Sasuke and looking down at him. His expression is bored. Watching records is probably a pretty dull task. Especially since no one would be stupid enough to try to break into something in the heart of the police station. However, the only other place that might have what he needs is deep within Hokage tower, and Sasuke knows for a fact that he would get in far more trouble attempting to break into there.

"What do ya need, kiddo?" Inabi smiles in a way Sasuke suspects is meant to be comforting, but just looks creepy on his face.

"Tekka-san asked me to get the historical crime data. He wants to compare violence against police officers from the second's reign and now." Sasuke can feel his palms sweating and he hopes he sounds convincing enough. He doesn't know for sure whether they have information like that here, but it is something that father had been interested in at least. Sasuke remembers his parents talking about it over breakfast just a few days ago. Mother was concerned that people might be angry enough to actually _kill,_ or at least attack, an officer. She said she could feel riots brewing.

Inabi apparently finds his excuse reasonable enough and unlocks the door to let him through with little fuss. He tells him to knock on the door once he wanted to leave. Sasuke nods and feels relieved that Inabi isn't going to try to go in with him. Although that, he supposes, would leave the door unguarded, so maybe it wasn't an option. Inabi points toward the far wall and some file cabinets there and says that that's probably were the information he needs is. And with that, Sasuke is left alone in the dark room.

The records room is cold and windowless and smells dusty. There are tons of tall shelves full of boxes of records. Some look to date back to the founding of the military police. Most of them appear to be coded or kept in sealed boxes that Sasuke can't figure out how to open. Luckily they aren't what he's here for.

Walking quickly with confidence he doesn't really have, Sasuke looks for clan member records. He knows his father had them brought here a few years ago in an attempt to consolidate paperwork. He finds the correct section easily enough and is relieved when the filing cabinet drawers open easily. Within, he finds current records for every living Uchiha, mostly just where they live and commendations and citations where applicable. The Uchiha don't have access to official mission data and there isn't really much else they could put in a file anyway.

Out of curiosity, he picks out his file to find it only has his name, face and address. Since he hasn't really done anything of note though, he supposes that isn't that surprising. Itachi's file is a little thicker with numerous commendations for different things he'd done. There's a copy of his academy graduation sheet as well as an assessment from his jounin sensei recommending him for chunin and jounin. Though, to his knowledge, Itachi went into ANBU before ever officially taking the rank of jounin. He's disappointed to find that the home address is still listed as his own home, since Itachi never visits.

Then, in a stroke of genius, Sasuke looks for Shisui's file. It's similar to Itachi's, though also notes that Shisui is a jounin and currently holds the rank of Hokage. There's a psychological assessment that Sasuke tries to read before realizing it's mostly written in code and not something he's really interested in anyway. But there, under the basic profile information, is the address to Shisui's current apartment, the one outside the Uchiha complex. Sasuke knows for a fact that that's where he'll find Itachi.

Shoving all the folders back into their drawers, Sasuke goes back up to the front and knocks. Inabi-san is a little surprised to see him empty handed, but doesn't really press him that hard. It's clear he's far more interested in his comic book than whatever Sasuke is doing.

Leaving the police department is a easy. Since no one had cared when he entered, no one even notices when he's gone. It's dark outside, but he'd been expecting that and it's warm enough he doesn't regret leaving his jacket at home.

It isn't hard finding Itachi and Shisui's place. The apartment is pretty close to the tower in one of the nicer residential areas. It's far more modern than anything in the Uchiha complex, but not exactly ugly. Sasuke doesn't think it's anywhere he would have picked though. There are too many windows and not enough living things nearby. There isn't even a garden, but he guesses neither Itachi nor Shisui would have time to take care of one.

After knocking a few times, and peaking into all the windows he can reach, he realizes no one is there. Not that that should surprise him at this point. That seems to be the story of his life now. Not ready to give in quite yet, especially not after all the work he'd put in figuring out where Itachi even lived, he sits down on the front step to wait for them to come back.

As it gets later and later, he starts to regret his decision. His stomach begins to growl and the air develops a chill it hadn't had earlier in the day. The cold concrete of the ground feels like it's leaching all the heat out of his body through his butt and his fingertips start to go numb. However, even as he feels his eyes drooping closed, he forces them open, refusing to give up on this. It's been months since he last spoke to his brother, and he's sick of feeling so scared and alone. He doesn't care if he gets sick, he's going to see Itachi tonight, he thinks, as his head droops forward and he drifts off to sleep.

A gentle hand on his shoulder wakes him up some time later. It's still dark out, but the moon has moved a lot since the last time he saw it. Sasuke scowls to himself, upset at his inability to even stay awake. However, that's all washed away when he realizes that Itachi is _here_. _Itachi_ is here! Shaking his shoulder and asking if he's okay. Sasuke grins as best as he can through chattering teeth and launches himself up to hug his brother, wrapping his arms and legs around him like he used to when he a little kid.

Itachi smiles a little, but Sasuke's sudden weight causes him to take a step to steady himself before he can hug Sasuke back. Itachi's eyes look more tired than Sasuke has ever seen before. He wonders how much sleep he's been getting and what could possibly be so stressful.

"You should be home, sleeping right now, Sasuke," Itachi says quietly. His voice sounds exhausted, and Sasuke feels guilty for keeping his brother up.

He drops back down and backs up a step before saying, "I've missed you so much Itachi. I-I had to see you. I can't- I want you to come back home and live with me and mother and father again. I-" He can feel tears wanting to come out, but he pushes them back. Uchiha are too strong to cry.

Itachi sighs and his shoulders droop at the thought. Sasuke wonders if it's his fault Itachi hates home so much. He hopes not. "Things are- complicated. I don't think mother or father would want me with them right now." Itachi stops speaking for a minute before continuing, "You however, should probably go back. I'm sure they're worried about you by now. Don't you have school in a few hours?"

Sasuke shrugs. He hadn't realized it had gotten so late. He doesn't mean to say anything else, but when Itachi looks at him like he's trying to wordlessly force Sasuke to agree with him and go back home, the words just slip out. "I hate it at home. Everything is awful without you! Mother and father are never home and when they are, they just argue. I'm sick of being strong and being an Uchiha. I just want my family back!" He's embarrassed to feel tears streaming down his face. He doesn't know when that started. "Something bad is going to happen," he whispers. He knows he shouldn't tell anyone what he heard, but he can't help it. Somehow, even now, it still feels like Itachi is the only one who can fix everything. "Mother and father keep talking about… about the Uchiha taking their rightful place in the village. I'm afraid they're going to do something bad. Something that might hurt people."

Itachi doesn't try to comfort him or tell him that he must just be imagining things. He doesn't do much of anything really. Just puts his arm around Sasuke and leads him inside. He carefully nudges Sasuke into a chair at the kitchen table and goes about preparing hot chocolate in a very matter of fact way. That sense of control and normality is what lets Sasuke regain control of himself. He feels a little guilty betraying mother and father like this and a little more guilty adding to Itachi's stress, but mostly he feels relieved that he's told someone and that they believe him. And he knows Itachi believes him. He can see it in the stress in his brother's shoulders and in the way he didn't ask any other questions.

After the hot chocolate is done, there are two mugs, one for himself and one for Itachi. Sasuke is feeling much better. His fingers are finally warm and for the first time in weeks, maybe even months, it feels like things might get better. Itachi still hasn't said anything, but that doesn't surprise Sasuke. His brother only talks when there are important things to be said.

It's only after both of them have finished their drinks and Itachi has cleaned and put away their mugs that Itachi speaks. "Things are difficult right now, between our parents and me. And Shisui as well. They are unhappy that things are not changing faster and believe that it is because Shisui and I do not wish to make the changes. I know you miss me. I miss you every day. However, if I were to live with you, it would only remind mother and father even more of their frustrations with me and with the village." Sasuke thinks about this. In a way, he's glad that Itachi is treating him as an adult. He isn't speaking down to him or offering useless words like _I'll see what I can do_ or _maybe next time_. It isn't the answer he wants though, and he doesn't think that Itachi would let him stay here with them either. No matter what, he doubts he'll be seeing any more of his brother.

Itachi notices his disappointment and tries to change the subject. "How was school today? Are you still top in your classes?"

Sasuke shrugs halfheartedly. "It was the first day. I don't think anyone is top yet." He can feel Itachi stiffen next to him and looks over. Itachi's face doesn't show expressions the same way other people's do, but Sasuke's had a lot of practice reading it over the years. He can tell Itachi is feeling a very guilty. For some reason, that, more than anything else that Itachi has said or done, makes Sasuke feel happy. He doesn't know why, he'd known Itachi would have walked him to school if he'd asked, if he had been told school was starting again. Sasuke's never doubted Itachi's love for him. But somehow, seeing that guilt, knowing that Itachi feels bad about missing his first day still makes him feel a little less lonely than he had before.

Sasuke hesitates and looks at his feet for a minute before looking up again and asking in his most innocent and manipulative voice, "Do you think, maybe… I could um- stay here, with you and Shisui sometimes?" He knows Itachi would never normally agree. He knows that mother and father would be furious with him and Itachi if Itachi ever did, but he doesn't care. He wants to spend more time with his brother and he's sick of having to share him with the village. He wants it badly enough he doesn't even feel guilty about using his brother's guilt and love against him.

Itachi looks so tired and that exhaustion is almost enough to make Sasuke take it back. He doesn't want Itachi to be hurt, but he's missed him so much. Itachi takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. "I can't let you do that. You know that Sasuke. Mother and Father would never allow it, and with Shisui being Hokage, you're much safer staying with the rest of the clan." Itachi looks so sad Sasuke is afraid he might break in half.

Suddenly Sasuke wishes he had never asked. Wishes he could put Itachi back together again and make him happy. Itachi looks so sad he couldn't give Sasuke what he wanted and then Sasuke realizes how he can fix him. At least a little. Putting on his bravest face Sasuke nods. "I understand. I wouldn't want Mother and Father making things harder for you than they have to be. Maybe you could agree to come home on my Birthday instead?"

Itachi smiles at that and nods. He looks relieved that Sasuke understood and wasn't upset, and happy that he could do something to make Sasuke happy. Sasuke hugs him again fiercely. He's missed his brother so much. And when Itachi whispers in his ear, "I promise no matter what happens I will visit you on your birthday," he knows at least one thing is right in the world.


	19. Chapter 19

Mikoto has never shirked from hard truths. She was a shinobi before she was a mother, and in truth, she has never let that part of her go. She knows that Itachi is lost to her, and has been since before Sasuke was born. His fragile mind was shattered by the last war and the Senju have dug themselves and their ideals into the cracks. No matter how she might wish it, there are some things that, once broken, can never be repaired. One must simply accept discard them and move on.

She knows too, that Sasuke will never be another Itachi. He has neither the temperament nor the inborn skill of his older brother. However, this is where his true value lies. While it takes far longer for him to learn and grow, when he does, it is not with the same glassy fragility of his older brother. His roots are stronger, more able to weather the ugliness of the ninja world. And despite how raw it is now, Mikoto can see within him a potential that far eclipses that of anyone else in the clan. So while her husband, her closest confidant, talks only about what they have lost, and how it might be salvaged or regained, she focuses on the future she sees before her. Good ninja do not dwell on the past and things they cannot change. They must focus on the future and how to attain it.

Whenever she can, she helps Sasuke with his academy work, pulling out old textbooks to show how he is learning the building blocks upon which all shinobi skills are based. Despite the demands of constant clan meetings, she tries to make time for him. She knows that he has suffered from her and his father's absence, but she tries to make sure he understands how much he means to her. She listens to his frustrations and fears and comforts him when she can. When she can't, she diverts his attention away, distracting him from his lost brother, from villagers who hate him for who his parents are, from the rejection he faces at the hands of his own father. Stone by stone, she works, building the foundation of the man she sees him one day becoming.

It is for this reason, when she feels a slight breeze on her arm and wakes up to a blank slip of paper in her hand, that she knows what she must do. She knows exactly how much she would sacrifice for the good of her family, of her clan, if asked. And this, this is nothing.

Fugaku wakes as she slips silently out of bed, but a quick word of reassurance and a ready excuse easily silence him. And Mikoto would not be half the shinobi she is if she could not leave the clan compound in which she has lived her whole life without being seen. Even so she exercises caution as she makes her way carefully out. Out of her home, out of the compound, out of the village.

The clearing, when she arrives, is as dramatic as she remembers. The trees form a wall in fierce, black silhouettes. The heart of the clearing is bathed directly in moonlight so bright it almost blinds her. And in the exact center, he is waiting. He stands several inches taller than her, though is by no means unduly large. He wears a plain black robe, the hood thrown back to reveal short dark hair and a mask that glows in the moonlight. In some ways he reminds her of Fugaku, though even in a robe, it is clear that his frame is leaner than that of her husband.

"Madara," she greets quietly, her words serving to harden her resolve. Madara, or the man who claims to be him, nods at her and she kneels before him, as she has done the two other times he summoned her.

"Report my child. Tell me what progress you have made with our clan." His voice is calm and clear, unaltered by age. Mikoto can hear within it a strength of conviction and a thirst for justice for their clan that mirrors her own. While he cannot act now, cannot be seen within the village or they will lose the element of surprise, she knows in her heart, that as long as he is on their side, they cannot lose.

And so, Mikoto tells him of the council's petty concerns. Of the ways that Fugaku compromises his beliefs and the clan's future for a taste of acceptance by the village. She explains the Hokage's plan to pacify the Uchiha through an expansion of the military police because ANBU has been stretched to breaking and there are not enough talented ninja to replace those they lose.

As she finishes, he asks her questions. Some are obviously relevant, such as if the proposed changes in the police force will alter watch schedules, and whether there are enough loyal Uchiha to handle patrol when they are ready to strike. Others are more obscure. He wants to know about the Sharingan Thief, Kakashi, about the strength of the seal on the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, and about her opinion on Itachi's loyalty to the clan. She answers all of them to her full ability. She tells him everything she knows, all the weaknesses she has observed. She tells him of the villagers' weak morale, of the higher burn out rate of ninja, of the tension between Uchiha Shisui and nearly all of the village's inner circle.

When he has finished asking his questions and she has told him all that she can think to tell him, her voice is hoarse and her knees ache from kneeling too long on the cool, damp ground. Before she can stand though, she feels him press a hand to her shoulder and bend down, whispering quietly in her ear, "You have served me well, and I promise, when the day of reckoning comes, the Uchiha and Konoha will finally get their just reward. Too long have we suffered under the unfair yoke of Senju rule. It is our right and duty to revolt, that those who come after might have a better life. Konoha has denied the Uchiha our rightful place for too long, and now, it is our duty to claim what should always have been ours. Not for ourselves, but for our sons and our daughters, that they might know what it is to walk the streets unafraid."

As she leaves the light of the clearing, she again feels the weight of her actions, the realization that allying with Madara will have consequences. Though she has little fear of them. There is nothing she won't sacrifice to give Sasuke the life he has always deserved. While Madara may have opened her eyes to the simplicity of her choice, in truth he has never said anything she didn't think herself first. She has always known that that change will not come without a bloody and violent price.

Mikoto knows she is not the only one Madara talks to. She knows that there are others within her clan that must report to him as well. After all, it is hard to stage a revolution with only one soldier at your disposal. However, she cannot help but feel that she is playing a pivotal part in all of this. That for the first time in her life, choices she makes will have true consequences. People's lives will change because of actions she has taken.

The peace in Konoha is a fragile thing, and though she has only spoken to Madara a handful of times, she has begun to see how little the pieces need to be shifted in order to bring about the end they seek. She finds herself running across the branches as she makes her way back to the village, not so much for speed, but for the desire to work off excess energy. She can feel it racing up and down her limbs, a faint tinge of electricity as she waits in the calm before the storm. Soon, the Uchiha will have their reckoning and there will be nothing that anyone can do to stop it.


	20. Chapter 20

There are some days that Fugaku wonders if he understands his clan at all. Every time he begins to feel optimistic about reconciliation with the village, he is forced to confront the intractability of his own family members, as they refuse to yield or compromise in pursuit of their goals. He has spent close to six days working with Shisui, whom he still has trouble thinking of as Hokage, as well as the commander of ANBU to work out the details of the Uchiha Police's expanded scope and jurisdiction sharing. And while there were times that it felt as if the details would never be worked out, especially when ANBU insisted the Police Cadets were less qualified to guard the village wall than the Genin that currently did, they had eventually come to a compromise that all parties could… tolerate. More than tolerate really. For the first time in weeks, Fugaku feels true optimism after an agreement with the village. The clan won't have to give up anything in exchange for increased jurisdiction and power. There are even provisions to allow active duty police officers to take paid missions without requiring a leave of absence from the police force. And more than that, the village will owe the clan for even agreeing to take this up. While Shisui has not said as much, Fugaku can tell how desperate he is for this agreement to work. He doesn't have enough ninja to manage the current mission load, let alone increase in missions summer inevitably brings.

However, after signing the new charter and sharing it with the clan leaders, things get… complicated. Mikoto is cautiously optimistic about the move. Hearing her approval, even as hesitant as it is, comforts Fugaku more than he can say. While she still holds numerous doubts, Fugaku can't say he doesn't share in many of them. After all, it does seem particularly unwise to have the Uchiha as the primary face of village law and order, especially considering the tensions between the civilian populace and the clan over the past several years. But without this first step, he fears that true reconciliation can never occur. And there is no one else who can smooth the way for them. While the clan would never have been granted this opportunity without the personnel shortages the village has suffered, that also means that there is no one else to help ease civilian fears. This is something the clan will have to do on their own. And after expressing her concerns, even Mikoto agrees that this is a necessary step their clan must overcome.

The council is another matter. They have seldom seen eye to eye on anything and they make their displeasure at their lack of involvement in these negotiations very clear. Within hours of hearing of the deal they _request_ Fugaku attend them at his earliest possible convenience, or that evening, whichever occurs first. The message is delivered by a young courier, whom they have instructed to wait at his door for a reply, adding further insult through the insinuation that he cannot be trusted to respond in his own time.

Having dealt with their games for years and knowing that making them wait will only increase their ire, Fugaku yields to their petty power play and agrees to meet with them later that afternoon. With such a meeting hanging over his head, it is unlikely he would have managed to get much done anyway.

When he arrives at the clan meeting hall, the elders are already there, sitting at the front of the long room on the raised dais. There is a table in front of them and the whole room is lit by candles despite the bright daylight outside. This is not the underground meeting hall they have used in the past, however even here, the windows are shuttered and sealed to ensure anything said within these walls remains private, hidden even from the rest of the clan. There is no chair for him, another not so subtle attempt to show his relative place here. The elders themselves sit in a close-knit cluster, their eyes narrowed in disapproval even as he walks in and greets them.

The hall looks cavernous without the rest of the clan. Typically, these types of meetings would have many more present, and Fugaku wonders why they chose here instead of a smaller room for this discussion. Knowing the pettiness of some of them, it was probably a calculated move just to put him more on edge and emphasize his relative unimportance and lack of power. The efforts they were willing to go to just to feel powerful would have amused him, if he hadn't been the subject of their attentions.

"Why, Fugaku-san," asks the youngest of the five, Uchiha Setsu, "have you betrayed your clan, bartering away their lives and services for not even a pittance in return?" Her milky white eyes and bone white hair look soft in the flickering candle light, belying the harsh tone of her accusation.

Fugaku pauses at first, taken aback and not sure how to respond to the gross mischaracterization of what he has spent every waking hour for the past week negotiating. "Betrayal?" Despite his best efforts, he cannot keep his voice down, cannot keep the anger out of his tone. "Everything I have ever done has been on behalf of our clan. This deal," he holds the rolled scroll of the charter out and tosses it at the elders' feet, "is a chance for us to finally reconcile with the village. It expands the powers of the military police far beyond what they have ever been. This trust placed in us will _finally_ allow us to prove our ourselves to the entire village. It will finally get ANBU out of our hair and will allow us to go on missions not simply as ninja of Leaf, but in our own name as well." He pauses for a breath. "For the first time since the founding of the village, our officers will be able to serve both as police as well as active duty ninja, accepting missions on behalf of the village-"

"Exactly," says Elder Setsu, "On behalf of the _village_. Any work we do for them is not for the glory of the Uchiha. It is not for the advancement of our people, of our kin. It is for the glory of the village that has scorned and betrayed us at every turn. We are no more than dogs to them, to be directed at a target and released. Given nothing more than a pat on the head in return." Slowly, she stands up, pushing the heavy wooden chair she had been seated on back in the process. "We are Uchiha," she says, clenching her fist over her heart. "We are the heart of flame, the will of fire. We are not some tamed _beast_ that meekly accepts table scraps and considers them a meal. Perhaps you would do well to reflect on that, _young man_."

"As you say, Revered Elder," Fugaku bites out before nodding his head in the barest suggestion of a bow and turning stiffly to leave. It is clear there will be no more productive conversation today and though he would enjoy the chance to lash out, he knows it would be impolitic to agitate the elder council any more than he already has. He forces himself to swallow the words of protest that burn in his throat; there is nothing they can do at this point. In this matter at least, they are impotent. The new charter is already signed, and he doubts the Hokage would be willing to renegotiate, even if it was something he himself wished to do. And at least this meeting was short. It may have devolved into a shouting match in almost record time, but better that than a whole day of veiled insults and prolonged negotiations. Fugaku has never been good at concealing his feelings and while he doesn't doubt Elder Setsu will find some way to retaliate for his words, it feels good to have said them to her face for once.

He makes it almost to the door before he is called back to the front of the room. "Where are you going, Fugaku-san?" The deep voice is rough with age, but still carries across the large room. Fugaku finds himself turning back toward the speaker, Uchiha Hiroji. The man has not moved from his seat, though he leans forward slightly, his arms resting lightly on the table. He still wears the close-fitting clothes of a shinobi, although it has been decades since he last saw active duty, rather than the long robes favored by the rest of the council. Elder Hiroji has been an elder since before Fugaku can remember, though he doesn't look it. His body appears largely untouched by its age except in coloring. He is also one of the only people on the council that Fugaku truly respects. Unlike Setsu and some of the others, Hiroji remembers what it is like to lead on the battlefield. He is used to making impossible decisions and having to live with the results.

Fugaku bows, much more deeply this time, as he addresses the assembled elders again. "My apologies, Revered Elders. Was there something else you wished to discuss?" How he manages to keep his tone as level and courteous as he does, he doesn't know. Though it helps that he has addressed all his words in the direction of Elder Hiroji.

"As a matter of fact, there is," says Elder Setsu. Her voice is shrill and echoes slightly through the empty hall. "How closely have you been watching your family, _Fugaku_? We have heard disquieting rumors. How much do you trust the loyalty of those within your house?"

Fugaku blinks, stunned. He trusts Mikoto completely, and while he hasn't been with her at all times, at least recently, he knows she would never act against him. They confide everything in each other. In fact, that was one of the reasons he fell in love with and married her in the first place. As for his children, they are political nonentities. Sasuke is an academy student, too young to understand the concept of betrayal let alone act it out. And Itachi? He hasn't seen him in months. There is nothing more Itachi can do to hurt the clan. Not that he believes his son ever would hurt the clan. Itachi has always been a sensitive and gentle boy. It was always his greatest weakness as a child, and if Fugaku himself couldn't change that about him, he doubts anything else could either.

"I trust my clan and family absolutely, Revered Elder," Fugaku says at last. "I can think of nothing to substantiate any rumors you have heard and would question the validity of your sources. My family is, always has been, and always will be loyal to the Uchiha clan" And while it might be a little bit of a stretch, it _is_ mostly true. He cannot conceive of a situation that would cause any member of the clan to betray them. As much as members of the clan irritate him at times, most of the worst offenders being in this very room right now, he does trust his clan, and he knows, deep in his heart, that he will always do whatever he must to protect them. Despite their differences in thought and opinion, they are a family in the truest sense of the word.

"What Setsu-san means to say," Elder Hiroji, says after several moments of tense silence, "is that we have some concerns about your son." His tone is even and conciliatory, clearly aware of the reaction his words will cause. But even so, that does nothing to calm Fugaku down.

He bristles, "My _sons_ are absolutely loyal. I would stake my life on it." Fugaku is quickly losing what little patience he had for this _discussion._

Elder Hiroji nods, "Of that we have no doubt, Fugaku. However, what concerns us is not their capacity for loyalty, but rather to whom they have given it." He pauses to look Fugaku in the eyes and his tone turns more pitying, "Sure you must know where we are going with this?"

But Fugaku doesn't. The words don't make sense. There is nowhere to _go_. No logical continuation to be made. His family is his life, and he loves them absolutely. While he has been distant at times and a demanding teacher and parent, he knows that they feel similarly about him, about the clan.

Elder Hiroji pauses again, this time considering, "Fugaku-san, we, the elder council, acting on concerns brought up by a number of clan members, are officially stating our belief that Uchiha Itachi is not fit to-"

"No!" Fugaku doesn't realize he has spoken until the words are already out of his mouth. "Itachi is fully capable, he is the most talented ninja born to us in generations. He-"

"Our concerns are not about his abil-"

"Know your place, boy! We gave you this position, against our better judgement! You are noth-" Elder Setsu's words cut out as abruptly as they began when Elder Kai clamps a restraining hand on her shoulder.

The hall is silent for several long moments before Elder Kai speaks. "We are not here to discuss Fugaku-san's fitness to lead, today. Let us return to the matter at hand." Her words are softly spoken, but effective at refocusing everyone's attention.

Fugaku takes several deep breaths and tries to order his thoughts. This is not at all what he had anticipated when he agreed to this meeting. "Itachi, my son, is under a lot of stress right now. However, I trust in his abilities and loyalties, and believe that should suffice. As clan leader, it is my job to choose a successor, and I have already chosen my son."

Elder Hiroji leans forward again, "As clan leader, it is your right to name your successor, so long as you are choosing from among eligible male heirs. However, our concerns are about Itachi-san's eligibility. Numerous concerns have been brought to our attention of late. Not the least of which being his continued avoidance of the clan compound in its entirety. We cannot have a clan head who is unwilling to associate with the clan he is to lead."

"Itachi is busy," Fugaku says. "And stressed, between his duties as an ANBU captain and his role as personal bodyguard and assistant to the Hokage, he doesn't have time to return home very often." However, even as Fugaku refutes the elders claims, he knows they are right. These are the very concerns he has voiced multiple times with Mikoto. Itachi is being forced to choose between his closest childhood friend and the rest of the clan, an impossible choice and Fugaku is not certain that he would be any different if Mikoto were the Hokage and he was forced into Itachi's position.

"Itachi-kun," Elder Setsu says snidely, "is a selfish child, too focused on his own desires to see the needs of the clan. Not that more could be expected of him, all things considered." Fugaku is only able to keep silent because he knows she is just trying to goad him into another reaction.

"Fugaku-san," continues Elder Hiroji, "As head of the Elder Council, I am asking you to speak with your son. He must choose between his duty as clan heir and his personal loyalty to Uchiha Shisui. We cannot afford a clan head who will sacrifice the good of the clan to please his friend. I know you wish to think the best of your children, and Itachi-san is indeed an incredible ninja with talent we have not seen in generations, but none of that will make up for the danger his split loyalties pose. I am afraid, that should you fail to resolve this in a timely manner, we will be forced to evaluate whether you yourself are still fit to lead. I have known you your entire life, and I have faith in your judgement, but this is about more than you and your family. Our entire clan could be at stake."

Fugaku cannot move, cannot think. It feels as if the entire floor has fallen out from beneath him. He does not know how he manages to get back home, but he knows it must have happened. For the first time, he is forced to confront how tenuous his grasp on the situation is. All of the optimism he felt at the beginning of the day is gone, replaced by a cold ball of dread. He can feel the strands of hope slipping through his fingers like eels. The harder he tries to grasp, the faster they slip away.

If he wants to continue to have any control over events, he will be forced to disinherit his own son, who has done nothing wrong, beyond earning the enmity and mistrust of the clan. He will be forced to act not for the good of the clan, but rather for what the clan believes to be good. And he will have to allow himself to become even more of a puppet for the elder council. Because if he doesn't then they will simply appoint someone else that will. Someone without the experience to negotiate with ANBU or the Hokage. Someone who is more concerned with power than with the wellbeing of the clan. Someone who after this is all over, will yield to their every whim. Someone like they would have liked to have appointed originally, if Mikoto had not spoken so eloquently on his behalf almost twenty years before.

And so Fugaku makes up his mind. He will become what he must for the continued wellbeing of the clan. As long as he remains clan head, he can work to guide events onto the path of least destruction. And while it may be a bitter pill to swallow, retaining some control in this situation is by far the better option, even if it means he must swallow his pride and act against his own beliefs.


End file.
